Beasts Of The Meta-Void
by RoyalStarlord
Summary: Monsters have came into contact with a curious artifact of unknown origin. It gave them the unusual gift of mental acuity and more, but it also has the hidden power to pierce through space and time. -Blood and gore, violence, monsters, hunting, strange and possibly gross alien biology and general things that are only meant for the 18 age crowd. (Discontinued)
1. Beginnings

**Chapter 1: Beginnings**

* * *

 **Planet Shear.**

A place where it's running wild with dangerous native fauna and flora. If either didn't kill you, then chances are it would be your next door neighbor with a grudge against your life. Humans are dangerous like that. In fact, everything in planet Shear can kill you. Even the air itself, if it becomes irradiated. That's the thing about Shear that humans love so much. The radiation.

You see, humans have discovered a long time ago that there is a highly concentrated amount of natural Bohrium deposits on planet Shear. Bohrium happens to be a type of radioactive metal that can be used as a fuel source. Using Bohrium power plants, they would generate electricity that can power their weather control machines, or make a light bulb brightly lit. Humanity slowly populated the planet with their numbers, effectively colonizing it years later. Despite the daily struggle between the humans and the native lifeforms of Shear, the humans would slowly spread their numbers and expand their colony more on this planet they claim as theirs, just so they could get more Bohrium from the ground.

A derisive snort sounded from the shadows, as an invasive organism watched a small hamlet of colonists from a distance. From an outsider's glance, humans are a territorial species that shout and warble their vocal language at one another, so confident in their individuality, and so indignant when some part of their life had been changed that did not benefit them. Partially hairy primates that uses strange tools to change the landscape, hunt the dwindling food, or as a means of recreational entertainment. One would theorize that due to such an evolution of creature, their reliance of these strange tools have regressed their evolution to the point where they no longer needed to become stronger. No edged claws, no sharp fangs, no piercing spines, lack of hardened hide, or any remarkable trait other than being smart enough to use and make their strange tools. Easy prey.

A saurian monster emerged from the shadows, more than 20 feet tall and sporting a large frame with spikes and barbs. It's skin was as black as midnight, and his rage toward these upright tailless monkeys blacker than that of midnight. His eyes and mouth glowed with the fury of fire, and was very much capable of breathing it out in a forceful exhale. He would teach these humans his wrath and hunger, and would enjoy doing so. To the humans, they would label such a creature like him as a 'Goliath'. But even then, the creature didn't care about the human languages or the funny sounds they make. He didn't care about the tools these colonists use for whatever their purposes were. He even didn't care if the humans just up and left his territory today. Sadly for them, he did mind that the human colonists were here and within his territory now. And them being in his territory means that they are liable to get hunted and eaten by him. Such is the emergent life for the shadow skinned Goliath.

But if the Goliath could agree on one thing, if he ever had the capacity of the cognizant thought to agree on things, he had in common with the humans, then it would be their ability to use tools. The humans with their odd technology that served to make human lives better, and the Goliath's thrown boulder that was careening to the colonists destination.

A heavy slam of rock against flesh and metal alerted everybody, resulting in screaming and shouted human languages that the Goliath did not understand, and did not cared to listen to. He leaped high into the air and used his own body as a projectile, thudding hard in the center of the colonists living quarters, and alerting them of who was attacking. The Goliath fiercely roared, announcing his presence to the colonists and began hunting each and every human down. Ripping flesh from bone, making their blood pool into the soil, hearing the screams, this was the moment that the Goliath enjoyed the most as each of such things made his blood flow a little more quicker within his veins. Heart pumping to the maximum to each life ended, slaying and devouring man, woman and child, this was what the predator lived for. The hunting of the prey. And it felt good to the Goliath.

It was only an hour later that the monster found all the humans and brought them down from their perch. They would do well to remember that no one should ever intrude within a predator's territory. Gore and sinew filled the Goliath's face as he feasted on his hunt, which would make any human still alive and watching the spectacle feel a pang of horror and a sudden sickness. The Goliath didn't care, and continued feasting.

Upon consuming several corpses from the latest attack, a whispering was heard during the Goliath's feasting. He looked at the general direction to where the whispering was heard, but found nothing. Even his heightened senses detected nothing, aside from the random animals that was out of the way and avoiding the humans and him. But the whispering sounded like it was so far away, yet he could hear it over the wind.

The Goliath growled and continued eating his hunted prey. He will have to investigate that noise later when he is not busy establishing his new territory. But even then... the whispering... It sounded as though it was beckoning to him.

Then suddenly, little red fires dropped from the sky as the Goliath was feasting. He jerked up to look at the flares, then looked up to the sky. What kind of bird dropped those here? Could be a dangerously big bird. The Goliath's instincts tells him to avoid such a creature, since such a big flying thing could take him on. The Goliath left the area to give the intruding beast room. He might come back later to pounce on it.

But in reality, the 'big bird' was actually a dropship.

* * *

As the Goliath slinked away, four hunter mercenaries were preparing for their deployment at the distillery. A famous trapper sporting a harpoon gun with hat and mustache, a bearded mining and demolitions expert that carried a welding laser for a supportive role, a hardened soldier assaulter in red armor who seeks glory in battle with his lightning gun, and a sniper markswoman with a medgun and an affiliation with CIG9 wearing a light white and black reconnaissance suit.

The dropship hovered over the deployment zone and the people within the carrier leaped out of the vessel. When they reached terminal velocity and neared the ground, they activated their jetpack systems and prevented themselves from receiving serious fall injuries and death, only to land safely and ready to hunt for the beast they sought to put down.

The famous hunter known as Griffin Hallsey stepped forward and viewed his surroundings. After taking in the scenery, he took a spike shaped tool from his back and speared it into the ground. "I got this place monitored."

"Good." The glory soldier commented. "If monster doubles-back, we'll know." He was named Aleksey Markov, and he took to the front of the group.

"Are we going to stick around here and wait politely for the critter to come back? Needless to say, but I'm not much for sitting on my hands." Said the heavy bearded one. Henry 'Hank' Allen was his name.

"We can follow the tracks. That's a start." The woman in the black and white recon suit said, pointing at the trail that no doubt lead to their target. She was known as Valerie 'Val' Wolski.

"Alright. Let's get the show on the road and lay the bugger down." Griffin said, running forward and prompting everyone to move as a group.

The tracking of the monster took several minutes of non-stop running. Several animal corpses were discovered as they followed the trail. The warmth of the bodies told the hunters that each dead critter was a recent kill. After a few more minutes of constant running, one of the hunters finally piped up. "I think I see something move." Griffin said, stopping and pointing at a direction. The other hunters looked at Griffin before looking off in the direction he pointed at. The trees and shrubbery covered in snow blocked out much of everyone's vision, and it didn't help that it also started snowing too.

But then everyone saw a black mass coming to them in the form of a silhouette. It quickly approached them before they could recognize what was approaching. "Uh... ROCK!" Shouted Hank.

Everybody ducked out of the way of the incoming boulder, but as it impacted the ground, it shattered into thousands of rocky shards and exploded, pelting everyone in the process. Everyone slowly got up and groaned painfully. But Val issued the use of her healing burst ability. It's always important to have a medic on the team in cases like this. After mending her allies wounds, Val decided to voice her opinion on the recent projectile of landmass that was hurdled their way. "... Where the hell did that come from?"

"I do not know... Let us find out." Markov said, getting up to find out who, or what, was responsible for the slab of rubble that dangerously came their way.

The pack then decided to make a speedy pursuit to the direction of the boulder throwing threat. With any luck, they will finally catch up to their target and then finally take it down. A distant roaring could be heard from the distance, but the hunters pressed on.

* * *

The Goliath had ran around his new territory and ate much of the animals that were in his way. The Goliath had the instinctual feeling that something was chasing him. When he had his fill of meats from prey that got in his way, the Goliath then made an effort to find better ground to lose his pursuers. And for good measure, he decided to throw a rock at the location where he calculated they might have ended up. That aught to buy him some time. Maybe they will get the hint that he doesn't like to be followed?

The Goliath found a nice little alcove within a cave system and felt as though he should rest there. He climbed up the rock wall and got himself comfortable on a spot that seemed like a nice place to rest. Then, a different feeling coursed through his body that made him spasm and shake. He could feel his muscles reform and bone structure restructuring as his body became bigger. Bulkier. Stronger. A devastating roar cut into the air as his mind took control of his transformed body. If there was a simile that could describe what it felt like to transform into a new body in this fashion, it would be the like the equivalent of taking every kind of euphoric drug that heightened your senses then riding that high into ascension. It was painful, but it was the good kind of pain. The Goliath looked down and inspected his body, clenching his claws into fists and witnessing the new strength. And everything seemed... Smaller. But in truth, Goliath had gotten bigger. Slightly slower, but bigger still.

Speaking of smaller things, the Goliath had caught the scent of the creatures that was chasing him. The pursuers! They must not have received the Goliath's warning, via his rock throwing messaging system. Out of curiosity, the Goliath slinked down and backed away, listening closely to these creatures as they approached.

"Hallo... The trail of tracks is cold here." said Griffin, approaching the end of the Goliath's tracks. The Goliath wanted to growl at these humans and their tracking skills, but kept silent.

"You think that monster is here?" Markov questioned.

"I would think so. That rock came from this direction." said Griffin.

"How about using your planet scanner, eh? Might tell us where the stone thrower might be." Said Hank.

Griffin nodded and perused onto his person for a device. Upon clicking one of its many buttons, Griffin got his reading and pointed in the general direction where the Goliath is. "This way!"

The Goliath stopped his breathing as the hunters closed onto his location.

They got closer.

They got more closer.

They got even more closer and... They went past him.

The Goliath sighed a breath of relief and decided to sneak his way out of the caverns, the hunters unaware that their mark had passed right under their noses. Or... Above them in an alcove.

The Goliath felt as though these human hunters knew what they were doing. They had an air of... danger about them. But the Goliath didn't care. If he had to, he would fight them face-to-face. They didn't seem so tough either! The Goliath could easily take one of them down. But all four at once with a sufficient amount of teamwork on their side? That might take some effort. Oh well. His armor was slowly regenerating and his health was full to the brim. But he felt the need to feed on more meats to gain energy for the next transformation. Ah, wouldn't that be the perfect itch to scratch? To get that high once again! And become stronger for it! Just a few more morsels to hunt and devour and the Goliath would be-

-attacked by the same group of hunters that was tracking him, pointing and firing their strange tools at him. Didn't he give them the slip?

Griffin fired his harpoon gun, its payload stabbing at the Goliath and pulling him toward the trapper. "Not as sneaky as you think, eh?" Even though the Goliath's armor had withstood the small sting of damage, he still felt the pain it dealt. That had made the Goliath angry. He charged at the offending hunter and knocked him away with the barraging and unavoidable collision of a Goliath's might. The Goliath prepared to strike the trapper down with a downward strike when lightening blasted into his face, making him miss his mark.

A man in red armor wielding what might have been a Tesla coil weapon, distracted the Goliath. Whatever it is, it hurt like hell, and it made the Goliath mad. Deciding on the spot, the Goliath decided to give the other offending hunter another element that hurt like hell. A burning hot flame straight from the monsters mouth.

"Get back!" Markov shouted, backtracking and firing his lightning gun at the Goliath, of which was approaching him with a wall of spouting fire.

Val descended to Griffin's side and helped him up. After assisting the old trapper, Val then aimed her tranquilizer at the Goliath and unloaded a few rounds into his hide.

The Goliath could feel his stamina lessened after the darts pierced his armor and skin. It made him even more mad. Furious even. Sluggish, but still filled with fury.

Before the Goliath could fight off the new threat that slowed him down, explosions landed on and around him, damaging his armor to the point were his health was now being permanently wounded. He leaped out of the way as the ensuing barrage pocked the ground with burning craters. And from a distance, he saw a bearded man chuckling and smiling. Was he the one that lobbed those explosives onto his back? That cocky grin of his, plus with everything that is happening to the Goliath at this moment, made the Goliath beyond the point of furious. Rage filled his body, which changed his flight-or-fight response to focus on fighting all the way. Needless to say, the monster snapped.

In quick succession, the Goliath ripped a rock out of the ground and hurled it at the bearded human, and immediately leaped towards the harpoon human and the flighty female human. Several swipes plus a charge was all it took to incapacitate both of the hunters, and now there was the lightning soldier and the bearded man to deal with. The Goliath decided to take down the bearded man next, leaping towards him.

"Val! Griffin!" Markov would shout, going into the fray and trying to assist his downed teammates.

Hank, meanwhile, would contend with a very pissed off Goliath. He was slowly losing his life to the monster, and Markov wasn't there to support him. A bad choice of tactical teamwork for the hunters to split up then and there.

Markov went to Val first, picking her up and assessing her wounds. "Are you alright?"

"I'll be fine. ... Where is Hank?" Val asked.

"Er... I'm sure he will be fine." Markov said with what enthusiasm he could muster.

"Go to him, Markov. He needs the assistance. I'll help Griffin here." Val said.

"Not to be the one to bugger up your party, but... Here he comes again!" Griffin shouted to the two.

Val ascended with the use of her jetpack, lifting off the moment Griffin said the word 'again'. Markov, however, simply turned around and got a full dosage of mean monster claws to his torso. The Goliath had apparently made short work of Hank, and was now pummeling the glory soldier to the ground with a pounce attack. Val shot her sniper rifle at the monster while Griffin took out his custom classic pistol and aimed it at the monster.

The pain made the Goliath flinch enough to release the pounced prey, but he was not going to stop from bringing the hurt onto these trespassers. The humans dug their own grave when they riled up the Goliath. The Goliath pursued after the nearest threat and... got the glory soldier pinned down by a pack of blitz leopards. The Goliath stared as the red armored hunter got pinned by the native beasts, which got the soldier mauled in the process. If the Goliath could grin, he would. The Goliath then turned and stared at the medic. The gaze he gave Val was very menacing to feel. The Goliath then targeted the last hunter, using a leaping smash attack that broke one of her legs in the process. The blitz leopards incapacitated a roaring Markov and dragged him away, while Griffin was cursing aloud the whole time and shooting his pistol.

The support was dead, the assault dragged off by blitz leopards, the trapper mauled by the Goliath's claws, and the medic broken and pinned to the ground. It was obvious that the Goliath had won this fight. He roared triumphantly into the air, so sure and confident that there was no threat that could possibly topple him. This is what he lived for. The fight. The moment. The glory. The Goliath felt incredible and unstoppable.

After the victory cry of war, the Goliath's gaze now settled on Val's broken body, still with a broken leg and pinned down with a heavy foot. The Goliath leaned down onto the hunter and growled, his mouth watering and baring teeth that threatened to rip and consume flesh. Val could only look on in terror as the Goliath's maw inched closer and closer.

Just as the Goliath planned to bite down on the hunter's skull and end her life, the whispers began again. It sounded so loud now. Loud enough that it even interrupted the Goliath from enjoying his recent prey item. The Goliath looked at to where the whispers were coming from. It wasn't close, but he can tell that the whispers were beckoning him again. The Goliath looked back down onto his pinned prey, which was looking right back at him with a pained and frightened expression, which slowly turned into curiosity.

The Goliath was suffering from a decision that he was trying to make. Would he go towards the whispers? Or devour this hunting party? He already killed the bearded man and the Goliath figures he could eat all of them in quick succession. But the whispers... It beckoned him... Welcomed him... Invited him... It was hard to make out what the whispers said. What were they saying?

The Goliath, ignoring his hunger for fresh meat, moved off and away from a very surprised Val. She noticed that the beast seemed to be distracted with something as he looked off in the distance. The beast slowly lumbered away, making Val breathe a sigh of relief. When Val was sure that the monster was out of earshot, Val whispered into her com device. "This is Valerie. Bucket, get a recovery team down here now. Lazarus is going to have his hands full."

"𝒴𝑜𝓊 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝓇𝑒𝓆𝓊𝑒𝓈𝓉𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝐿𝒶𝓏𝒶𝓇𝒾𝓈? 𝐼 𝒶𝓈𝓈𝓊𝓂𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓂𝑜𝓃𝓈𝓉𝑒𝓇 𝒽𝒶𝓈 𝒷𝑒𝑒𝓃 𝒹𝑒𝒶𝓁𝓉 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇𝑒 𝒽𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝒷𝑒𝑒𝓃 𝒸𝒶𝓈𝓊𝒶𝓁𝓉𝒾𝑒𝓈?" A robotic voice replied to Val.

"Actually, the monster decided to leave us alive."

"... 𝒞𝑜𝓂𝑒 𝒶𝑔𝒶𝒾𝓃?"

"I repeat, the monster lost interest in us and went off in a direction to the southeast. My current team is in no condition to track our target and I request extraction."

"𝐻𝓂𝓂! 𝒯𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝒾𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒻𝒾𝓇𝓈𝓉 𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓇 𝓈𝒸𝑒𝓃𝒶𝓇𝒾𝑜 𝓌𝒽𝑒𝓇𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓂𝑜𝓃𝓈𝓉𝑒𝓇 𝒽𝒶𝓈 𝓁𝑒𝒻𝓉 𝒶𝓃 𝒶𝓇𝑒𝒶 𝒾𝓉 𝒽𝒶𝓈 𝒸𝓁𝒶𝒾𝓂𝑒𝒹 𝒶𝓈 𝒾𝓉𝓈 𝓉𝑒𝓇𝓇𝒾𝓉𝑜𝓇𝓎 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓁𝑒𝒻𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒽𝓊𝓃𝓉𝑒𝓇𝓈 𝒶𝓁𝒾𝓋𝑒. 𝐼'𝓂 𝓃𝑜𝓉 𝓈𝓊𝓇𝑒 𝒽𝑜𝓌 𝓉𝑜 𝓅𝓇𝑜𝒸𝑒𝓈𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈!"

"Bucket. Lazarus. Please."

"𝒩𝑜𝓉 𝓉𝑜 𝓌𝑜𝓇𝓇𝓎, 𝒱𝒶𝓁𝑒𝓇𝒾𝑒. 𝒜 𝓇𝑒𝓈𝓅𝑜𝓃𝓈𝑒 𝓉𝑒𝒶𝓂 𝒽𝒶𝓈 𝒷𝑒𝑒𝓃 𝓈𝑒𝓃𝓉 𝓉𝑜 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝓁𝑜𝒸𝒶𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃. 𝐻𝑜𝓌𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓇, 𝐼 𝓂𝓊𝓈𝓉 𝒾𝓃𝒻𝑜𝓇𝓂 𝓉𝑜 𝒞𝒶𝒷𝑜𝓉 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓉𝓊𝓇𝓃 𝑜𝒻 𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓃𝓉𝓈, 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒽𝑒 𝓂𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉 𝑒𝓍𝓅𝑒𝒸𝓉 𝒶 𝒻𝓊𝓁𝓁 𝓇𝑒𝓅𝑜𝓇𝓉 𝒶𝒻𝓉𝑒𝓇 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝓉𝑒𝒶𝓂 𝒽𝒶𝓈 𝒷𝑒𝑒𝓃 𝒻𝓊𝓁𝓁𝓎 𝒽𝑒𝒶𝓁𝑒𝒹. 𝒯𝒽𝑒 𝐿𝒶𝓊𝓇𝒾𝑒-𝒜𝓃𝓃𝑒 𝓌𝒾𝓁𝓁 𝒷𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇𝑒 𝒾𝓃 𝓁𝑒𝓈𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓃 𝓉𝓌𝑜 𝓂𝒾𝓃𝓊𝓉𝑒𝓈."

"Hurry up. I think Griffin is bleeding out, and I thought I saw Markov get dragged away by blitz leopards. I do know that my leg is broken and I'm assuming that Hank is dead. Cannot confirm if his corpse is intact or devoured. Be advised."

"𝒞𝑜𝓅𝓎 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉, 𝒱𝒶𝓁𝑒𝓇𝒾𝑒. 𝐹𝓁𝓎𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓉𝑜 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝒹𝑒𝓈𝓉𝒾𝓃𝒶𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃."

Out of all the days of being on this bloodthirsty planet, this one had to take the cake in being the strangest one. Why did that monster leave?

* * *

The Goliath scaled mountain after mountain, crossed river after river, lumbered through forest after forest. The Goliath didn't know how he could tell, but with each hour that passes, he could hear the whispers growing louder. It felt as though he was getting closer. Sure, the errant animal that had the misfortune to be in the Goliath's path proved to sate his hunger from time to time, but he was undeterred to travel to where the whispers originated.

After much traveling in the span of a day, the Goliath met upon the tallest mountain he ever found, covered in trees. There was a small formation of snow near the top of this mountain, while bird calls constantly singed from the trees below, making their mating calls and tweeting at one another in disputes of territory. The smell of poultry was heavy in the air. He looked upon the mass of tree covered rock and soil and growled his disdain. Was this where the whispers had led him to all this time? A mountain filled with bird wildlife? Throwing a rock or blowing fire at the flying critters might enable the Goliath some easy snacking, but he would have to be hard pressed to hunt enough of them to get a full belly.

Or would have, had the whispering distracted the Goliath even more so than ever. The Goliath huffed and growled more in contempt. He was nearing the limit of humoring these whispers for so long, following where they originated and coming to a stop at this giant mountain. Well... Since he's already here, he might as well find out what is making the whispering noises that lead him here.

The Goliath lumbered on and trekked through the mountainous forest, pushing trees out of the way and scaring nearly every bird in his wake. The day crawled into the night as the Goliath still sifted through the wooded mountain and tried to look for the source of the whispers. At least there was an inexhaustible supply of flying food, ready to be snatched out of the air. Two birds with one stone. Or in the Goliath's case, several birds with one boulder.

Speaking of boulders, the Goliath found one of such that seemed to have the whispering coming from it. The Goliath missed it many times since the birds tried to chase him away from their nests and distracted him from hearing the whispers there. And since the Goliath ate most of the birds during his search of the source of the whispers, he only noticed it now without the distractions. He grabbed at the giant rock and rolled it to the side, revealing a dark cave that lead down. The wind seemed to be drawn into the cave somehow, almost as though the tunnel entrance was hungry for air. Yet the whispers were stronger down in the dark. Barely clear enough to make out what the whispers were saying, though the Goliath had no means of understanding what the whispers meant or said to him.

But still, the Goliath pressed on. He entered the huge tunnel and wandered down and deeper into the mountain. Even when the light from the surface faded away till only darkness persisted, he continued on. If the Goliath could ever summon the feeling of thankfulness, he would be thankful about his eyes being able to glow in any light level. And even then, his superior sense of smell guided and helped him, despite bumping his head in certain places of the tunnel from time to time. The whispers were becoming so loud to him now. The Goliath could tell that he was getting very close.

After a long descent, the Goliath finally came to a vast, dark chamber. The air was stale, but filled quickly with a fresher supply thanks to the Goliath's earlier dislodging of the boulder from the cave entrance. The place was dark. Darker than midnight. Darker than... Okay, let's say that it was about as dark as a black hole contained in a lead container with a 10 foot thick wall and painted with vantablack paint, and leave it at that simile. And if that wasn't enough, there was a floating sphere that was black in color too, which was about the same dimension in size. It was about 25 feet in diameter.

... Wait. Sphere?

The Goliath noticed the sphere being there and eyed it carefully. The whispers were... coming from it. So that was what he heard the whole time over this long distance? All the way from the human place he hatched in? The Goliath sniffed at the sphere, but it had no scent to it. He wasn't even sure if it was made of the same stone as the cave. Could it be one of those human devices that used the Patterson equation? The Goliath wouldn't know if this black sphere could use the Patterson equation, since he was too stupid to know what a Patterson equation is. And the Goliath had a bestial mind, so simple concepts and ideas were not so understandable to the beast either, such as thinking about where the sphere could have came from, or wondered about who built it. The devices that uses the Patterson equation tend to piss of the Goliath the most, since he could sense them and... well... It just pisses him off for some unexplainable reason. It was like his HNA was wired to hate things that uses the equation mechanically. All that the Goliath knows is that something silently called him here. And since he is here, he discovered that the black sphere was the thing that is making the whispers.

What to do.

The Goliath placed his clawed paw onto the smooth surface of the sphere since there really was nothing else to do. Well... Aside from gnawing on it to see if this thing was edible or just smashing it to pieces to finally get the whispering to stop.

But at the very moment his claws gently pressed onto the surface, the whispering became clear!

...

...

...

Clear as mud. He couldn't understand what the whispering is saying to him. Whatever words they were saying to him simply made no sense. It was at this point that the Goliath had just enough. He was done humoring this whispering sphere. He brought his claws back and readied to attack it.

~Stop.~

The Goliath immediately turned around to face this new voice. In the dark, he saw some blue glowing lights, but the Goliath's sense of smell had identified that this creature was some kind of large tentacled mollusc. Oh great. It's what those humans identify as a Kraken monster. Its appearance was tall, squid-like, and Lovecraftian in nature. Its wings glowed and hummed with electricity, and the other monster looked down on the Goliath with four condescending and glowing eyes, having blue and black skin. If it wasn't bad enough, the Kraken was 25 feet taller than the Goliath, making it obvious that the saurian was outmatched by the flying tentacle monster in size.

But that didn't deter the Goliath as he stood his ground and roared defiantly at the taller monster, not caring if his health was still damaged from the fight with the human hunters. He didn't care if he was in another monster's territory. He found the black sphere and he's going to protect it from any and every thief, human or monster.

The Kraken raised his claws up. ~Calm down. I have no desire to challenge you. I just wanted to tell you that trying to break that thing wouldn't work. Believe me, I tried.~

The Goliath tilted his head and stared at the intruding Kraken, though he kept his aggressive posture. The Goliath knew that the Kraken was talking to him, but the Kraken didn't make any sounds at all. Not even lip movement, even though the Kraken didn't have any lips to speak with. Just how was this Kraken speaking to the Goliath without verbal communication?

The Kraken pointed to the black sphere with one of his claws. ~The dark orb was the device that enables me to speak to you. You can hear its whispers too, correct?~

The Goliath turned and peered at the dark orb for a quick glance before turning back to keep an eye on the Kraken, in case the other monster was going to do something that he didn't like.

~Relax. You will know that as I speak to you with my mind, or telepathy as the humans call it, you will know that I am not deceiving you. Unlike the flawed method of speech through verbal words, lies can be detected easily this way. Believe me, I had the whole day to figure out how to reach into a mind and read their memories and knowledge. But I suppose that was thanks to the whispers in the dark orb.~

The Goliath tried to wrap his head around this new concept of communication. The Goliath didn't understand, since he doesn't know how to generalize the concept of communication. Or understand what a concept is. Or understand what was happening to his mind as he was processing new concepts he had never thought of before. Or understand what those concepts were. All these new ideas and thoughts was making the Goliath's head hurt painfully as he tried to understand. He voiced his struggle with a growl.

~I know that you are having difficulty trying to understand this new information. Try not to force yourself.~ The Kraken telepathed to the Goliath, whom then lowered himself down into a sitting position. ~I suppose that if it wwasn't for me, you wouldn't be hearing the whispers. So... I will assume that you want an apology from me, correct?~

The Goliath clicked his teeth and made a smaller growl, turning away to face the dark orb and stare at it.

If the Kraken could scoff, he would do it. ~... I suppose that is your way of saying that you don't care if I did say sorry.~

Minutes passed as the whispers were the only sounds that echoed and filled the chamber. Other than that, there was a dead silence between the Goliath and the Kraken. Although, if it wasn't for the whispering, it wouldn't really have been an awkward silence. But it was still very awkward between the Kraken and the Goliath since it would seem like they have gotten off on the wrong footing.

The Kraken, after letting the minutes go by for a time, decided to finally speak up. ~Listen. I know that I am not one to ask anything of you, but... I have been coming to a decision lately.~

The Goliath didn't budge as he continued to stare at the dark orb.

The Kraken continued with his communing thoughts. ~This dark orb has unlocked an ability within us, and I came back to it to try and understand why. The whispering had only started when I had first touched it, but I didn't think that it could be heard by anyone other than me. I did take the precaution to block the entrance to the dark orb with a boulder so that only I would know about it's location. Even though I took precautions, you must have still heard it from nearby, Correct?~

Well. Not nearby in the sense that the Kraken would put it. The Goliath remembered that he had traveled in the span of a whole day trying to find where the whispering came from, his adventure starting at the human living place where the snow was heavy, and after defeating the hunting group that tried to kill him.

~That far away, huh? Then I suppose there is no sense to keep blocking the entrance anymore, since anyone that can hear the orb from THAT far away is going to come here regardless.~ The Kraken said, getting up to approach the dark orb and stare at it.

The Goliath turned and stared at the Kraken warily. He sensed no harmful or deceitful intentions from him, but there was still so much that the Goliath did not understand. One question that was presenting itself to the Goliath's mind was the most prevalent. Why him? Why did the whispers lure him all the way into this cavern and under the mountain? Why did it choose him to receive this gift? And how did the Kraken got involved in this?

~I am sure the dark orb chose you for a reason. If anything, the whispering could be heard by every animal, every human, and every creature that shares our abilities, or 'monsters' as the humans call us. But if that were true, then there would be more activity here. I had only discovered it by chance when I was chasing an animal down here. By that of an accident, I bumped into the orb and it somehow activated to my touch, letting me hear its whispers and allowing me to develop my telepathy.~ The Kraken then pawed at the dark orb, looking like he was rubbing off some dust from its surface. ~In fact, I believe I started thinking in the human speech pattern hours later. I guess it could have something to do with me eating their brains, and that their knowledge was slowly absorbed by my mind. ... But anyway.~ The Kraken turned towards the Goliath. ~I was wondering if you could join me in analyzing this orb?~

The Goliath turned to the Kraken and grumbled. He wanted him to join and analyze this thing? All that the Goliath knew was that it made whispering sounds and granted whoever touched it the ability of telepathy. Oh, and from the Kraken's description of his recently developing abilities, the power to absorb knowledge or gain intelligence, whatever it is, by digesting the grey nerve clump in the skull of a creature.

~I can do most of the hard scientific work, if you want. You can do much of the heavy labor.~

The Goliath growled low and long at that.

~Oh don't be like that! How about this? I hunt for your food in exchange for your services. I may be lanky, but I am a proficient hunter. Although, if you want something from me, you can hunt for my meals. Does that sound any better?~

There was a long pause before the Goliath gave his answer with a short, but hesitant trill.

~... I'll assume that that is a yes. With some luck, we might be able to find out more about this dark orb.~ The Kraken said, stepping back and gurgling.

The gurgles could be gurgles of content, not that the Goliath was sure that they were of contentment or not. Aside from that, a thought came across the Goliath's mind. If there are going to be more coming because of the whispers that this dark orb was making, it wouldn't bother the Goliath too much to accept more monsters into their little gathering. Actually, calling it a gathering doesn't sound very good to the Goliath. ... Pack. Yes, that sounded better. And if there happened to be more than one Goliath that would come around and decided to be part of the pack, then... It could get confusing to differentiate between different Goliaths that were in the same pack. The Goliath guesses that they could be given a label or rank? Some means of identification? A word to be called by?

~The word you are looking for is a name.~ The Kraken answered.

A name! Yes! The Goliath could give the other Goliaths names. And perhaps to the other monsters too! But in truth, if the Goliath were to start naming other monsters one day, he would probably start off with giving himself a name. He looked at the Kraken as he pondered over the thought.

The Kraken looked back at the Goliath. ~Hmm... Interesting. You really want to give us names? You do realize that that a silly human habit?~

The Goliath trilled and contemplated on his own name. What would sound like a good name? The humans keep calling him a Goliath, so maybe he can take some of the pronunciation of the word and put it into his own name? Yeah, that sounds good. Maybe he could start his name using a 'G' sound. After much thought and practicing the different sounding names that started with the letter G, the Goliath have finally decided on what to call himself. ~... Garthis.~

If the Kraken could roll his eyes, he would. ... Oh no, that was a silly human habit too. The Goliath, now called Garthis, chortled at the Kraken's disdain. The Kraken growled for the first time ever in Garthis' presence. ~And I suppose that you're going to give me a name to annoy me with?~

Garthis delighted in this new idea that the Kraken presented to him, and proceeded to think up a name. Since the humans call the Kraken's breed of monster 'Kraken', Garthis would think of a 'K' sounding name. With the slightest of effort, Garthis found the perfect name for the Kraken. ~Kraivod!~

The Kraken, now the anointed Kraivod, growled even more at this turn of events in an annoyed way and went to the tunnel that lead to the entrance. If Garthis could smile, he would. He felt a tingle of pride and joy swelling up within his chest that contained his flame. And even better, he managed to annoy a Kraken that was bigger than him without getting viciously mauled! But at that moment, Garthis was feeling somewhat tired after the long trip to getting to this mountain. Someplace nice to sleep sounded good to him. Although the stone floor in this underground chamber wasn't exactly the softest place to lay on, Garthis would think that he could make himself a bed to sleep on. He was pretty sure that Kraivod wouldn't mind.

* * *

 **Two months later.  
**

The monsters of planet Shear has driven away the humans. Much of the human technology had remained forgotten, as the bones of the deceased primates littered the ground. Nearly all of the wildlife was hunted to extinction, with the exception of bird wildlife that spends their entire lifetimes flying or small critters that proved to be of no interest to any large predator. The monsters of Shear, the invasive creatures that had hunted the humans and devoured them to extinction on this world, had resorted to territorial aggression. Fighting happened every day. Food was scarce, which had eventually resulted in monster-on-monster killing and feeding, sometimes resulting in cannibalism when two monsters of the same breed battle at one another. Monsters that were born in their beginning stages of evolution would find no hope in acquiring a territory to stake their claim on. Other monsters in their last stages of evolution would protect their territory, and punish those to death when challenged by younger upstarts. That is until their wounds become superficial, making them a target among the younger challengers.

It was only when the last of the humans had left, or died, that the monsters of Shear had migrated to far distances to claim territories of their own. Due to the short gestation period and incubation period of the monster eggs, the population of the monsters grew tremendously large, skyrocketing in the span of days.

And here on Bird Mountain, a name that Garthis came up with a long time ago, had been visited by competitors only a week and a half later. Garthis had to fend off his newly claimed territory from many monsters that challenged him for the land. Most of the battles were easy for him, but there had been times where he had to rely on help from his pack to drive them away.

Garthis stood guard and on watch, overlooking the mouth of a cave and much of the landscape that surrounded the mountain. Endless trees flowed out in the land, but there was also an ocean that was at one side of the mountain, and a large flatland that was part sand and part grass, which eventually ended in a beach. There also happened to be several gigantic empty metal crates near the entrance of the mountain's cave.

Garthis sighed in an annoyed manner. Kraivod is taking too long this time around. When Garthis learned from Kraivod that they would have better chances of studying the dark orb with human technology, there was much debate between the two regarding whether they should or shouldn't go and acquire the necessary technological tools. Eventually, Garthis came to the decision that if Kraivod really had no other means to analyze the dark orb, he would have to go on his own to claim the human technology.

~Still looking out for him, eh?~

Long scythes had been creeping under Garthis' neck and abdominal so slowly, he didn't realize it. Not until the familiar voice was basically singing in his head. Oh. Her.

Days after the humans had finally left Shear to the monsters, and when Kraivod and Garthis wasn't paying too much attention, a monster had managed to intrude into their territory. When they finally found her, they tried chasing her away every day and night. But they then remembered that the dark orb had the power to whisper to select monsters from long distances away, and she didn't seem like she was attacking them either. When they finally debated and agreed to let this other monster touch the dark orb, they waited patiently for her to return to them. Sure enough, she came back, noticed them but didn't run that time, inspected and touched the orb, and was now able to telepathically communicate to Garthis and Kraivod.

And it was on that day that Garthis had named her Wylow.

Garthis sighed, blowing little plumes of smoke and fire from his mouth, followed by a trill.

~You know how he gets invested in his research. If I didn't know better, he has a very perverted obsession with that human technology. I mean... What else is there to understand about a big globe of murmuring silence that can make you think-talk with someone else?~ Claws danced on Garthis' back playfully, running through his spikes and tracing his scales.

Garthis snorted.

~Ha ha ha ha! So what if you don't know either! At least it gives us time to talk for a bit. You know... Get intimate?~

A grumble, followed by a shrug enabled Garthis to free himself from the scythes that was holding him.

A hiss emanated from behind him as a slithery, almost snake-like creature came in front of Garthis. This monster had no eyes, and seemed to float just above the ground, where her leg-tendrils were neatly folded and tucked, and a long tail accentuated her form. This monster was feminine in shape, though it wielded two scythes on the first pair of arms. Her second pair of arms was folded. A very human gesture. Garthis didn't know where she learned that from since he was very sure that Wylow had never seen a human do that, or seen a human once in her life. Though she had no eyes to speak of, she gave him an unamused leer. ~You're no fun.~

Garthis stared at the Wraith. Not exactly 'staring back', since Wylow still didn't have any eyes. ~... You do realize that the more time you talk to me, the less food we make from our livestock?~

Wylow growled in annoyance. ~Oh enough about the ice slugs! When will I go on another hunt? At least those are fun at times, and I get to hang out with the pack! It's like all we do is just stay here until Kraivod gets back!~

~Glaciapod.~

~What?~

~That's what the humans call them.~

There was a pause before Wylow responded. ~... I know that. It's just... Urgh! I'm just getting stir crazy sitting here, you know? I want to do something!~

~Well, I could convince you to take my place while I go to the glaciapod pens and pick up where you left off.~

~Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuugh. That sounds WAY TOO BORING! Just to sit here and... Look at stuff...~ Wylow slumped to the ground and purred, pushing her body onto Garthis' legs. She didn't care if dirt discolored her pink and white mottled skin coloration.

Garthis hissed a sigh. ~When is that damn squid getting back?~

~Come ooooooooooooooooooon~. Could you get Ganny or Balhu to do our stuff for once?~

~Wylow, everyone agreed to take turns with their responsibilities. And on top of that, I don't particularly trust Ganny and Balhu taking care of the glaciapods by themselves. At least not without supervision.~

If Wylow could pout, she would have. And Garthis knew she would, given the chance to use another human gesture to annoy him or Kraivod. But the world was slowly running out of things to hunt and eat. Much of the ecosystem was getting torn apart and deeply disturbed by the monster presence. Hunting for food had gotten so bad that Garthis was looking for alternatives. But once Garthis explained to Kraivod of the situation, he simply left for many days. However, he eventually returned with cool blooded slug animals that produced a glowing, edible gel. The gel was unappetizing, since it was like eating edible paste that was slimy, and left a slight aftertaste of dirt and mint. And slime. But at least it didn't affect their health too much when on a constant diet of the secretion. Hell, Garthis was convinced that it happened to be Balhu's favorite food. But then again, his reply to eating anything that was edible always ended with 'I like this.' But still, he was a lovable oaf. And Ganny? Well... Let's just say that she's just plain creepy.

However, far in the distance, Garthis could see a familiar speck coming into view. His eyes trained on the speck and he saw it take the familiar paths that it always took when coming back to the den. Garthis sighed in relief. ~Okay, he's here. I suppose we can take a break from our duties this time.~ He communed, stepping over Wylow and proceeding down the mountain and to the front of the cave entrance. Wylow hissed a sigh, but followed after Garthis.

Upon reaching the cave entrance, Kraivod came back with a metal crate that he was pulling. Four wheels was affixed to the crate, making it into a ramshackled and larger version of a wagon. He was met upon by the familiar faces of Garthis and Wylow. He gazed at the both of them. ~... I assume that you are... ah... Going to bother me about something again?~ Kraivod said.

Wylow slithered forward and hugged onto Kraivod, surprising the Kraken with unintended affection. ~Kraaaaaaaaaaiiiiiiiiiiiiiiv~! Garth is boring~! Wyl want play~!~

After stunned silence, Kraivod sulked and adopted annoyance to his expression. Can a Kraken even look as though it was annoyed? The only creatures that could tell if another monster was annoyed were the monsters that had made physical contact with the dark orb. ~... I can tell that you have been hanging around Ganny too much.~

~Well duh!~ Wylow said, letting go of Kraivod. ~So what did you find on your travels this time?~

Kraivod was hesitant, of which Garthis picked up on right away and approached. ~What did you find?~ He said, curious.

Kraivod burbled, but turned and carefully reached into the metal crate to sift through various items. After only around 5 or 10 seconds of inventory sifting, Kraivod pulled out some kind of wriggly looking animal. It wore a second skin and looked ragged in appearance. A cursory glance would fool the untrained eye that it might be a malformed reaver, which was a type of aggressive primate native to Shear. But both Garthis and Wylow got a good look at Kraivod's catch.

It was a human. It looked to be of a middle aged man with more scars than the stars in the sky, with a chunk of flesh missing and healed over from his left leg. He had brown facial hair, but was bald headed. What looked like eternal fear was welled up in his expression.

~KRAIVOD! WHY DID YOU BRING ONE HERE?~ Garthis was growling madly, keeping his anger towards the pathetic primate with sheer will. The little human curled up and made a shrill yelp.

Kraivod stepped back from Garthis' mental lash, but he kept calm and confident. ~I know, I know. I shouldn't have brought one with me without us discussing about the implications first. But when I found this one, I had to make a decision then and there, and decided to take it with me.~

~BUT WHY, KRAIVOD? WHY? WHY BRING THOSE HATEFUL THINGS HERE?~

Kraivod stood tall and growled. ~It's for my ongoing research on the orb! Alright? I needed someone that could use the technology I gathered from the colonies. The whispers of the orb can only tell me so much!~

~... What are you planning?~ Garthis asked in earnest, yet his mental voice still had a sliver of anger.

Kraivod breathed in and sighed. ~... I was thinking we should force it to touch the orb so we can listen to it as it listens to the whispers.~

~... Hmm. So this has to do with your dark orb research?~ Garthis asked.

~Yes.~ Kraivod answered.

There was a long pause. So long that the fourth party that was silent the whole time finally thought up. Which was the telepathic equivalent of speaking up. ~Um... Are you saying that this tiny tiny thing... is a human?~ asked Wylow.

~Well... Yeah.~ Kraivod replied.

~And since you asked, you will be the one to carry him to the den.~ Garthis said, walking to the crate and picking out the heaviest items to carry.

~... Wh... Whua-what? Wh-Why me?~ Wylow stammered, clicking like crazy.

~You were always curious about wanting to see a human for yourself. So you get to carry it. I want nothing to do with that... thing. Just keep it away from me.~ Garthis said, picking up several items and moving into the cave entrance.

Wylow and Kraivod looked at each other after Garthis was gone from their vision. ... Well. Kraivod's vision and Wylow's way of seeing the world. ~... Well, you heard him. The human is yours to carry. ... Oh, and try not to kill, eat, or injure it, please? Researching it won't work very well when they have been chewed to death.~

Wylow hissed as she was handed the human. Claws clasped around the small creature, making it squirm in a last attempt of defiance, or escape. A warning hiss made the human eeped again and remained still. Wylow grumbled. ~I hope this thing doesn't become some kind of pet. I would rather let it starve than let it eat any of our food.~

~I think humans are meat eaters, like us. But I think they have a preference for sweet tasting things, like milk and honey.~ Kraivod said, taking some items from the crate/cart to carry into the den. He traveled there with Wylow with her human in her hold.

~What is milk and honey?~ Wylow asked.

Kraivod sighed. He hopes that his research with the dark orb will finally be over with.

* * *

 **A/N: I had this story flourishing into my head the moment I heard that Evolve will be free on all consoles in the future.  
**


	2. Doesn't Like Chores

**Chapter 2: Doesn't Like Chores**

* * *

Deep under Bird Mountain, a monster den is heavily guarded by its pack. Over the months, it was slowly remodeled through the careful use of claws scratching at stone. But much of the excavation and cave chiseling was thanks to the help of the more stronger members of the pack. To solve the darkness problem in the cave system, the monster pack have adopted the use of their one stable food source as a light source. The glaciapod gel was fitted into glass lamps that was once used by the human colonists, which were looted and then hanged within the natural underground structure. They were fitted on the roof and the walls of much of the tunnel and the inner chamber, but needed to be replaced every two weeks when each lamp became too dim. At least the weeks old gel was still edible, but the dry layer of skin that formed due to air exposure was unpalatable. It was normal for most monsters to peel it off to get at the fresher gel.

There was two monsters that were working together in this chamber, one huge and the other small in comparison to the other monster, going around the cave and replacing each lamp with new glaciapod gel, heavily eating from each tiny lamp. Each container that these monsters emptied was licked clean before being filled with fresh gel. The bigger monster grumbled grumpily and hungrily. These tiny little dinner mints was doing nothing to sate his appetite. ~When is Kraivod getting back?~ He would think aloud.

The giant monster was large in size. Much larger than any other monster in the pack. Plates of rock shift and grind at one another with every bit of movement he made. The plates were bronze in color, and seemed to constantly shift around with every flex of his muscles, hiding the strength that was behind the natural armor. Though he had little legs, large strong arms also helped the Behemoth get around from place to place. His plated mask was glowing slightly, either from his many eyes behind the plate/mask or the accidental spilling of the glaciapod gel.

~Ganny know not, Blue. Kraiv takes time. Time takes patience. Sit still. Ganny feed you.~ This other monster was horrific in appearance, bearing the resemblance of what might be a giant spider that was beaten by a bundle of ugly sticks from an ugly tree. She stood on the Behemoth called Balhu, that she affectionately calls 'Blue' in her way of speaking, using her big pair of arms to reach up and take down each lantern. She emptied each lantern's contents into Balhu's maw and then used her smaller pair of arms to reach in to extract the rest of the barely glowing gel, eating at what was left, skin or not. Her abdomen and her mandibles twitched wildly as she fed on the gel and dry skin layer, making a mess as dribbles of gel sprinkled Balhu's face/mask. Her exoskeleton was a sickly green color, with small red mottles on her arms, legs, upper torso and much of her abdomen.

Balhu grumbled as he was used as a stepping ladder, but he didn't really have the kind of hands for delicate work so he might as well help around the den in this fashion. Whenever Ganny needed fresh glaciapod gel, Balhu would scoop up some from today's harvest, collected in several barrels that once belonged to the human colonists, of which were used to acquire the glaciapod gel in the glaciapod pens at the top of the mountain, and present it to her. This type of work would take about a quarter of an hour without distractions, but since Balhu would distract Ganny with talk and Ganny would messily eat during the task, it would take around forty five minutes or a full hour to get it done.

~Well I hope we go on a hunt after this. I'm bored.~ Balhu sighed, using his blunt hands to try and wipe the gel off his face and face-plate. A sharp grinding sound was heard.

~Ganny bored too, Blue. Nearly done. Last one there.~ Ganny pointed at the dimmest, yet largest of the lamps that remained in the central chamber.

Balhu sighed and slowly lumbered his way to it. It was the last lamp that was set in the highest part of this chamber. Plus, it was also the biggest lamp in the whole cave, as various windows and glass panes were formed together using scotch tape and duct tape to create it. The basin was made of a metal frame, which made Balhu's job easier as he used his big arms to reach the bottom of the large lantern, lift it up, and carefully lower it down to the ground. After that, Balhu pushed the skin layer aside and dove his head into the large lantern's reservoir of gel and imbibed like the wind. He didn't care if his face got even messier than before, he was hungry and wanted to do this for a long time now. At least this will hold him off until tomorrow.

After Balhu was done, Ganny took her turn and went into the lantern to lick the entire inside clean of the remaining dim glaciapod gel, carefully licking the inside of every groove and at the bottom for every single drop. She twitched almost crazily as she cleaned the lantern from the inside.

Balhu sighed, rubbing at his face again and making the grinding noise once more. He then perked up his head and sniffed the air. A familiar scent was tasted. ~Oh. Kraivod's back, I think.~

~Ganny no smell Kraiv, Blue. That be Garth.~ Ganny corrected as she climbed out of the lantern after she was done cleaning it.

Garthis carried a lot of human equipment within his arms as he entered the chamber. Taking a left, he went to the entrance of another chamber that was painstakingly hollowed out over a long period of time, which was being used by Kraivod. This chamber was Kraivod's 'laboratory', which also doubled as his own bedroom. Human items, tools, and technology draped the walls and covered the floor of this place. Whatever type of maddening method of organization Kraivod uses to find all these items, Garthis wouldn't know of it. He dumped all the items at Kraivod's lair entrance, not caring if he broke something in the process. He then looked up to see two monsters that he didn't particularly like. Looks as though they were taking their time with their chores this time around. ~It has been a week already?~ Garthis said.

Ganny approached Garthis and clicked happily. ~Garth is here!~ she said, hugging his leg.

Garthis grumbled, but didn't shrug her off. It was probably because she was part insect that her mind operates differently from the other monsters. And Garthis is not sure if she twitches and shakes a lot because of some kind of disease. Like... A monster form of Parkinsons or something along the lines of that. ~Beat it, you little bug. I'm not in the mood for playtime.~

Ganny hissed and backed off. ~Garth is mad. Ganny give space. Come back later.~

Meanwhile, Balhu was filling the big lantern with fresher glaciapod gel. After filling it, he licked his broad rocky... fingers? ~Is Kraivod back?~

~Yeah. Why do you want to know that?~ Garthis remarked.

Balhu turned to Ganny. ~Told you, Ganny.~

Ganny hissed at Balhu.

Garthis made a growl. ~Knock it off. If you two happen to act like this all the time when I'm not around, then I might not bring you on a hunt ever again.~ Both Balhu and Ganny started whining, but Garthis ignored the sounds of complaint. ~Get that lamp up.~

Balhu didn't stop whining, but he lifted the lantern as carefully as he could and hanged it in the center of the chamber. After that, Balhu curled up into a ball and noisily rolled to his own underground room.

~And no rolling in the cave!~ Garthis spat a few spouts of fire as he growled at Balhu the most. If there was a social or familial equivalence to this dynamic in the pack, Balhu pretty much acted like a big dumb kid. And Ganny. Well... Ganny was just plain creepy.

But as for Garthis, he acted more like a leader for the pack, as well as a guardian and an almost fatherly familial figure. Kraivod acted sort of like an uncle that preferred his own company, but can offer support or information when needed, provided if he could offer it or have the information beforehand. Wylow took upon the role as the big sister, subtly making sure that when tension was slowly boiling, she would balance the equilibrium and ease the drama, that is if she wanted to.

Speaking of Wylow and Kraivod, Wylow eventually entered the cavern with Kraivod and introduced a new scent to the chamber that quickly flowed everywhere. Currently, she was having a mental conversation with Kraivod. ~Ew, gross! Why would they want to eat fermented insect vomit? I mean... The milk thing I still don't get, but... Ew!~

~Humans are strange, yes. But even then, not a lot is known about them too. It's an unforgiving hobby to learn about and theorize the culture of humans, but I usually spend my time sifting through their baubles and memoirs without any information to decipher them with anyway! It's just me piecing together what they are. But mostly it's just me collecting and figuring out their tools, using them to find out what that is.~ Kraivod said, pointing at the dark orb at the back of the chamber. ~Anyway, give me a minute before entering my lair.~ He then proceeded into his own private chamber, a lair that was built by him.

All this time, the dark orb remained there, its whispering still present. The monster pack had lived with its whispers for a long while, but learned to tune it out of their minds when they went to sleep. Out of all the monsters, Kraivod had spent the most time with it, using whatever human tool he understood how to use to get any answers from the damn thing. It is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma. Which was a human quote that Kraivod discovered from an abandoned human recording device some time ago. Needless to say, it has become a running joke between everyone here to use human gestures, allegories, and metaphors to antagonize one another. Like a different level of sarcasm that was mixed with irony, but it was mainly used as a hidden in-joke between everyone in the pack.

And speaking of riddles, the scent that Wylow introduced to the cave eventually caught the attention of a bug minded monster in the pack. Ganny sniffed the air and chattered excitedly and curiously. ~What is smell?~

Wylow wanted to inspect the human a little more, but clutched the little pet sized creature close to her. ~Ganny. I want you promise something.~ She hissed, knowing that Kraivod needed the human and was disgusted that she was protecting it from her.

Ganny approached Wylow and sniffed the air more. ~What is it? Let Ganny see!~ She said, using her many arms to try and pry the small pink thing from Wylow's hold.

~Ganny, hold on. Gh, Ganny, stop! Can you hold your claws for just a minute? Ganny! Oh for crying out loud.~ Wylow was having a difficult time trying to calm Ganny down and try to explain the situation to the Gorgon. A flash of her scythes managed to make the overly inquisitive Ganny back off. ~GANNY! I want you to promise something. Understand?~

~Grrrr, Why Wyl want Ganny promise?~ Ganny whined.

~Kraivod needs this little guy. That's why.~

~Grrrrr, but Ganny no want promise!~

~Fine. You won't get to play with Kraivod's pet.~ Wylow said, turning around and going to Kraivod's lair.

~Ggggggggggggyyyaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh fine! Fine fine fine! Fine. Ganny promises. Can Ganny see?~ Ganny said, scratching the ground and snarling.

If Wylow could smile, she would. ~Oh, I dunno. Kraivod? What would you want her to promise not to do to the creature you brought back?~ she said, contacting Kraivod.

Clanging sounds was heard from Kraivod's chamber as he peered out to look at Wylow and Ganny. He sighed. ~No killing, eating, hurting, skinning, disemboweling, frightening, trapping, hiding, snaring, bleeding, poisoning, vomiting on, crushing with a rock or your own body, and, most importantly, keeping the human from my research.~

Wylow turned to Ganny and purred. ~Yeah, promise to whatever he just said.~

Ganny growled at the conditions. ~Ganny no like promise.~

~Well, you won't get to play with the human then.~

~Grr... Fine.~

~Fine what?~

Ganny took a deep breath and sighed. ~Ganny promise not to do things that make Kraiv mad at Ganny.~

~Hmm... Fine. I believe you.~ Wylow said, levitating to Kraivod's cave.

~Huh?! Uh... Can Ganny play-hunt it?~ Ganny said, frantically skittering next to Wylow.

~Oh, I dunno. Kraivod?~

~I need the human now.~ Replied Kraivod.

Ganny hissed and skittered away angrily. If Wylow could laugh at the Gorgon's misfortune, she would do so in a low enough chuckle that only she and Ganny could hear. But anyway, she needed to get rid of the human in her care sooner than later. She went into Kraivod's lair, being careful not to disturb his various projects or whatever errant item that was on the ground at the time, and accidentally drop the human in her clutches. As expected, Kraivod was squat on a stone slab that acted as his examination table. He was putting something up on it.

Wylow decided to break his concentration. ~So uh... What are you making there?~

~Containment area.~

~Oh... For the little guy?~

~Yeah. I don't want the human doing something when I'm not watching it, like using one of these items to craft a bomb that might blow a hole in our heads, or make the entire mountain we are in come down on us. Either way, this will keep it in one place. That is until we let it out.~ Kraivod said, setting up a large metal box with several metal sheets sharpened like knives that was curved downward and pointed inward.

Wylow looked at Kraivod's curious invention. ~Huh. How long did it take you to build that?~

~Roughly a week. The hard part was finding enough sheet metal for the curved blades.~ Kraivod said, making sure that each curved blade was evenly yet tightly spaced.

~All this trouble for a pet. I'm surprised Garthis is letting you keep it.~ Wylow teased.

Kraivod growled at her. ~Don't get me wrong. I'm not going to develop a sense of sentiment for the pest. It will be used for my experimentation. My study. My analysis. When I have all that I need, I will give it a chance.~

Wylow folded her secondary arms. ~A chance?~ She said, condescendingly.

Kraivod turned to Wylow and reached to the human she held and grasped him, only to put the small human in the box. ~Yes. A chance to determine if it is worth allowing to live as an animal of our amusement till it dies. Or... As a light snack for one of us.~

~Hmm... I never tasted human before.~ Wylow said, her mandibles slightly drooling from the thought of eating one for the first time.

~Ah-ah-ah-ah-ah! No!~ Kraivod growled and warbled at Wylow, his... wings, some may call them... glowing with electricity and danger.

* * *

The sentient Wraith growled back at the sentient Kraken, but turned and left the Kraken's lair, hissing lowly.

And the human that had been taken here had no fucking idea how, why, or with what kind of lucky breed of luck that enabled him to still be alive.

When the colony ship had flown away, he was stuck on this planet with no way to get back to his home. Even the rumored mercenary group had hightailed it out of here the last he heard of anything. And when the mercenary hunters had left, he was with eleven other people at the time. All of them barely survived the monster onslaught, but it was he that had survived the longest, via betraying them just so he could live a little bit longer.

Now he was on his own. Earlier, he tried to survive in a survival bunker that was supposed to be used as a relief shelter in case of natural disasters, but it was eventually dismantled by the monster that had caught him. Instead of being eaten, which he thought would have happened given the nature of the monsters, he was captured alive and taken far away from the ruins of human civilization. With his left gimp leg, he wouldn't be going anywhere anytime soon. Sure, he had enough strength in his left leg to walk around normally, but running would be difficult without some type of assisting device. The damn trapjaws, a type of native hound on Shear, got a chunk out of his leg, making him walk funny ever since.

This particular human was given many names. Idiot Savant, Scavenger, Jackpot Coyote, Mister Fix-it, and the more recent Traitor, or Betrayer. But his given name was known by many, and they knew him by Jack Wynono Piacentino. And boy did he hate his first nickname. No matter what kind of great deed he did on some job or task, he always messed up on some little thing. But he always tries to make up for it by fixing the problem that occurred on his behalf.

However, even though Jack was loved by his superiors, he was hated by everyone and anything else. Most of the time, he would take the credit of someone else when he knew he could get away with it. That's how he got hated by everyone else that is not a superior. And the 'anything else' category happens to include the native beasts of Shear, the invading feral monsters, and the sentient pack monsters under Bird Mountain.

Speaking of monsters, the tentacled one, Kraivod, known by the human as a Kraken, turned and peered down at him in his new enclosure. The metal box that Jack was put in was 15 feet high and 40 feet wide, with sharp sheet metal that was cut and sharpened into curved blades that was designed to keep him in. The walls of this box have been appropriated from the cargo containers that was shipped down from orbit. The bottom was stone, which meant that if Jack summoned enough strength, he could lift the whole enclosure and try his luck escaping. But he wasn't strong, and couldn't get far with his gimp leg. Jack felt as though his luck had finally ran out.

But still, he looked up at the thing that might as well be the picture definition of a nightmare in a dictionary's description. Jack and the Kraken stared at one another for a long time, but Jack was slowly beginning to understand something about these other monsters he became captured by. They were... Well... Different in a way, though Jack was unable to tell in what kind of way.

The Kraken reached for something that was out of view, picked up that something, and held a glowing substance above a corner of his enclosure. This bright goo was then messily drizzled at a corner, which made Jack back up a little. Judging from the smell alone, this stuff must be glaciapod feces. Jack stared at the pile. Jack then stared at the blue Kraken. The Kraken burbled and reached at the recently deposited pile, scooped up some, and then started eating it.

Jack gagged a little. He doesn't know why, but the natives of Shear and the monsters were known to eat the glaciapod crap. After seeing it happen before him, he can confirm that seeing it being eaten was gross as hell.

The Kraken then scooped another clawful and... presented the leavings to Jack.

...

...

... Is...

...

...

Is this monster trying to feed him LITERAL glaciapod shit?

Is this monster keeping him as a pet?

Is this monster corralling him like some livestock?

Jack, being offended by all accounts, took some of the slop from the Kraken's claws and threw it at the monster's face. The Kraken didn't flinch when the projectile spattered onto him. A tentacled wing did lower itself into Jack's enclose and crackled with energy. It gave him a zap that made him yelp in pain. It was only a small shock, but it did singe several hairs on his body and ionized his skin with first degree burns. After than, one of the Kraken's claws came down and pinned jack. Another claw had a helping of the glaciapod fecal goo that was carefully guided into the human's mouth.

The human struggled with all his might, but the strength of the monster was too great. Globules of goo was forced into his mouth, and Jack didn't have the control to shut his mouth. After being force-fed the glop, the monster released his hold on the human. Jack stumbled away and spat out whatever gunk that he didn't swallow. No matter what the scientists said, Jack would not believe them when they said that Glaciapod gel was safe for consumption. It was very unpalatable, tasting like rubber flavored astronaut paste with the consistency of glue and slug slime. He wanted to throw up, but he had never felt as full as he did in weeks. Still, something to wash the taste away would be nice.

But even then, the Kraken scooped up more of the crap jelly and presented it to Jack again, this time with an electrifying tentacle hanging from above, threatening to punish anyone who would bite the hand that is feeding. Jack, slowly understanding the situation better, reluctantly took a drop of the gel. He nearly gagged at the texture and the smell, but swallowed the disgusting oozing excretion.

After that, the Kraken retracted his lightning wing and deposited the scoop of gel back into the corner and went away from Jack's vision. Jack sighed and slumped to the ground, wiping his face from the substance. He really wanted to vomit, but alas, food was hard to come by. Jack figured that he might as well nut up and be thankful that he actually had something sitting in his belly.

An item clacked on the ground, prompting Jack to look up at the sound.

A toothbrush.

Jack looked up and saw the Kraken was there again. The monster was staring at him intently. Jack didn't know what to do. The monster slowly reached into Jack's pen and reached for the toothbrush. Instead of picking it up with its huge claws, the Kraken used a claw to scoot it towards Jack.

Jack's mind grinded dangerously to a slowing halt as he tried to process this new information. "... Is... That for me?"

The Kraken made a warbled trill in response to Jack. The Kraken kept staring at him and it was making Jack uncomfortable. But still, the human slowly picked up the toothbrush. The Kraken still watched intently. ... Was... Was it waiting for Jack to do something with the-

-Oh! ... But... Why? Jack didn't understand why the Kraken wanted him to use the toothbrush. ... Unless... Oooooooooooohhhhhhhhhh... Jack's mind finally figured out what was happening. The Kraken was studying him. And it was that thought alone that made Jack's mind reel in fear. And anger. But just as he was going to throw the toothbrush at the Lovecraftian monster, an electrified tentacle showed itself and immediately stopped him from making a bad decision.

Dammit. Jack slowly understood clearly what was happening now. He wasn't a pet. He wasn't livestock. He was a specimen of study. ... Well. Since he still had an awful taste in his mouth, he might as well use it. Jack tried not to think of who used to owned the toothbrush before he did. It was pink in color, so it could have belonged to a woman.

* * *

Kraivod tilted his head in response to this human using the small bristle stick. ~Hmm. A fang polisher? Odd.~

Kraivod huffed and moved away from the human, giving it space and time to itself to relax for once. At least it has glaciapod gel to eat when it's hungry. Oh, and use its bristle stick when it's done. Probably doesn't like the taste of gel very much. Kraivod would try to remember that in the future. At least Kraivod can confirm that humans can be intelligent. And even then, he will keep all of his four eyes close on this particular specimen. But now, he had to stop his research and discuss something of great issue to the pack leader. Exiting his lair, Kraivod turned left and went past the entrance to Wylow's lair. Next to her lair entrance was her neighbor, Garthis. Kraivod made an audible grunt and waited. This was the equivalent to knocking on a wooden door. Another grunt was heard deeper inside, giving Kraivod permission to enter.

Unlike Kraivod's lair, this one was decorated with bones, each one cleaned of all its meat and scattered on the ground. The larger skeletons of dangerous predators were kept mostly in one piece, as Garthis left the ligaments alone and proudly displayed them on many of his walls. Another thing Garthis decorated his lair with was wooden carvings of his own design. Kraivod was not sure why a Goliath would take up wood carving, but he would assume that when a creature attains sentience, they also develop some kind of way to release stress or entertain themselves. Such is the price of a high mentality, one could guess.

Garthis was at his carving area, dragging his claws over what used to be an upright log. Perfect way to sharpen his claws, though wood carving was not exactly a talent that he was very good at. Still, he continued at his craft, even when Kraivod entered his lair. ~I'm not going to change its bedding if it soils itself.~

~I didn't come here about that.~ Kraivod said, looking for a place to sit. He found a boulder with a flat top.

~What is it?~ Garthis said, still concentrating on his carving.

~You know that we will need to migrate soon.~ Kraivod said.

Garthis sighed, his plumes of fire threatening to destroy his hard work. ~... I know. There is barely any game to support us now.~

~And will you tell this to the pack?~

~In time. I don't want to stress them more than needed.~

~Meat is scarce, and you are busy carving wood. Doesn't seem like something you would normally do.~

~Look, Kraivod. After my last hunt with Wylow, it took us nearly four days to find a cephaladon. Four days! After that, hunting became so lousy that we would only be fighting against our feral brethren instead of finding food. Our kind is destroying the ecosystem, Kraivod. Where would we go?~

Kraivod looked down on the ground and sighed deeply. He didn't have an answer for Garthis. What should he do in a situation like this, other than give up on his study? He decided to change the subject. ~I suppose I can't trade a kill for your assistance in an experiment?~

Garthis momentarily stopped his carving to look at Kraivod. ~... You got one lined up for me?~

~Potentially. If my hypothesis is correct, my research can progress even more quickly if I run a particular experiment that I have in mind. Remember what I said outside of the cave with you and Wylow?~

Garthis snorted. ~Read the mind of a human as it listens to the whispers? Why not use one of us for that purpose?~

~Because our minds have a very similar... thought pattern. And before you can say 'What about Ganny'?, she is pretty much included in that synopsis. I even listened to Ganny and Balhu's minds as they first touched the dark orb, and feeling their telepathy grow and blossom and their minds becoming more advanced by the seconds. But other than that, their interpretation of the whispering sounds the same to them as it does in my own mind. I was hoping that through this experiment, I might have an opinion on the whispering from the perspective of a different species and a differently structured mind.~

Garthis shook his claws to free himself from some errant wood chips and turned to Kraivod. ~What will happen if this experiment succeeds? What if it fails? What's the downside if you do this experiment?~

Kraivod burbled as he pawed at his tentacled chin. ~Hmm... If the test is successful, we can then dine on the human sooner. That is, once I gain all that I need from the primate before then. If it's a failure, then I must test the human with its own technology the hard way to find out how their tools work. If anything, this method of testing human tools and their intelligence would take significantly longer. But the only downside to this... Is that the human will develop telepathy. Be able to read our minds, just as we will be able to read its.~

Garthis grumbled. This was a pretty big decision. to use an outside party just to analyze a strange artifact of unknown origin. Garthis could have convinced Kraivod to use any other animal for such testing purposes in the past, but then there was the animal shortage that was thanks to their more beastly brothers and sisters. And then there was the issue with the pack's migration. They needed to travel to less populated territories soon, and they can't do that when territories nearby are guarded by veteran monsters and patrolled by packs of younger monsters that are looking to bully their way into a territory to claim as theirs. Even though the pack tirelessly defends the glaciapod pens at the top of the mountain, the animal minded monsters might one day get cocky enough to make off with their livestock. It might get so bad that they might have to move the pens into the cave system.

... Well... It wouldn't make sense to let this pack's dilemmas get in the way of Kraivod's scientific studies. He turned and continued to carve. ~We wait till tomorrow to do the experiment. And on the next day, we will start the migration. Get ready to pack your essentials in a crate tomorrow.~

~A smart decision.~ Kraivod replied.

~You know what isn't smart? Forgetting to keep an eye on Ganny.~ Garthis joked.

~Heh heh. ... OH. Uh... I need to go check something!~ Kraivod said, practically and literally flying out of Garthis' lair.

Garthis stared at Kraivod as he flew the coop, looking a little dumbfounded. Was it something he said?

* * *

Jack inspected each wall of his enclosure, trying to find a small enough gap or a flaw in the metal wall's design. Apparently, the walls were held together via rail-guard, which was usually found in high places on human-built structures, stabbed through the metal walls that once belonged to cargo containers. If Jack had a cutting torch, he could cut his way out by focusing on the guard-rails at a corner, then simply use all of his muscle to push the walls open. But since he didn't have one, he would be stuck here with nothing but glaciapod gel to eat, or whatever the Kraken decided he would have at the time. He didn't care if he's going to get eaten sooner or later by these monsters, because Jack had set his mind on one goal only: Getting free. Since the coast is clear, he would try and attempt to escape.

Even though Jack could climb his way up the cargo container sides, the sheet-metal blades would keep him in. Jack was unsure why the Kraken wanted him alive, since it must have spent the monster a great deal of time to make each sheet of metal into a curved blade, and them affix them to the top of this enclosure. The only items that Jack has was his new toothbrush, a pile of glaciapod gel, and the torn clothes on his back. ... Well... He could tear his clothes into strips and make a strong enough rope, tie the rope to his toothbrush, fish for a place his toothbrush could lodge itself into, and carefully climb out of this prison. But his clothes were too torn and ragged to be made into rope, and the plastic toothbrush could easily break under his weight, or get cut by the blades.

Jack froze when he heard a chattering sound.

He looked up and...

... Looked at a face that he wasn't sure was what might have resembled a face, but it was the same monster that tried to pry him from the Wraith's hold from earlier.

The thing's face was a grotesque display of eyes, mandibled mouth, and ugly. It silently came to his enclosure as he was in deep thought, and he noticed only now that it was here. "... Uh. Shoo?" Jack didn't know why he said that, but he felt sure that whenever a monster is near him, trouble would stir.

The insectoid monster trilled in response and got closer, nearly leaning into the wall of the enclosure and threatening to make it buckle under its weight, parting and bending the sheet metal blades. Jack felt his heart pound faster as this monster crept closer.

Wait... the walled enclosure made from cargo containers could buckle under its weight?

Jack thought of a new idea at that moment, but he didn't like it. "Actually... Yeah, come a little closer. Come on! Over here! This way!" Jack said, backing away and motioning to the Gorgon to come closer. The Gorgon inched closer and closer, with Jack dangerously getting into the monster's grabbing range. But when the metal wall finally collapsed under the Gorgon's weight in a sudden 'whomp' and a horrible metal crunching sound, Jack took his chance and ran forward as fast as he could.

After quickly hobbling over the ruined wall, Jack frantically searched for some kind of hiking stick that would help his gimp left leg. After quickly finding and taking a crutch, Jack was able to travel faster. Sadly, he would not be fast enough to evade the monsters in a straight-on chase. He still wanted to try, since he only had one life to live anyway.

He left the lair that was filled with junk and broken tools, taking a cursory glance at the large chamber. Luckily, the only way out of the cave happened to be to his right. If he could creep along the wall, he could give these monsters the slip and... Jack wasn't sure what he will do after that, but he has to try anything and everything else, than to remain as a prisoner here.

A growl stopped him in his tracks. Jack squinted his eyes and slowly turned to see a Kraken looming over him. After a heart stopping delay of 5 seconds, more or less, Jack immediately turned around and started running in that direction, letting fear take the reins of his body as he sprinted as best he could.

The Kraken watched the human quickly scurry the other way. Jack could have sworn that he heard the monster chuckle, if his mind wasn't too addled in fear. Without thinking, he went into an entrance of a chamber and tripped over a random stone. He fell into a roll, bruising his body in the process. He paused, listening intently of a looming doom that would happen over him.

Nothing happened as he waited.

With caution, he slowly got up and peered behind himself. Sure enough, the Kraken followed him, but stopped its pursuit of him at the entrance of this large tunnel. He stared at the Kraken for a long time, the monster grumbling loudly and... turned and went away?

Jack's mind was drawing a blank as the monstrous tentacle beast just left his prey, but was slowly feeling the fleeting emotion of relief as he breathed deeply and relaxed. So... was he safe in this chamber? Or did the Kraken didn't want him to leave this underground cavern? In any case, Jack would count his lucky stars. He was unaware of what was behind him, however.

* * *

Kraivod managed to chase the little human into Wylow's chamber. Kraivod grumbled as he was unable to get his specimen back. Wylow, however, heard the little human tumble into her lair. Wylow's personal chamber consisted of several lanterns that was partially painted with blood, giving the chamber a pinkish coloration. The lamps was always dim, since Wylow never really needed light since she used a specialized sensory organ to sense her surroundings. At least that is what Kraivod would guess it was. Wylow's lair was also decorated with animal skins that was soaked in blood or covered in charcoal or wood ash, which was then drawn on using animal blood, charcoal, and wood ash. Wylow had a habit of using her claws as paintbrushes, and loved to use blood, with her 'paints' that was in stone bowls on the ground. Since there wasn't much blood nowadays, she resorted to using mostly charcoal and wood ash.

But then, a tumbling creature disturbed her creative outlet. She turned and saw Kraivod standing outside of her lair and... Oh. A human that had found itself in her chamber. ~Kraivod. Why is your pet here?~

~Ganny ruined its containment and it tried to escape. I'm just making sure the creature doesn't leave.~ Kraivod said, disliking the fact that Wylow was calling it his pet.

Wylow teased. ~Putting it on a leash might help.~

~Well, if you're going to be like that, then you can look after it for the moment.~

~What? No! I already touched it once! Why do I have to look after it?~

~The human is already in your room, so I'm leaving it in your jurisdiction. I might ask for permission to enter and retrieve it back, but since you OH SO LOVE to tease me, I think I'll come back later and let this teach you that I don't like to be egged on.~

~Oh Kraivod~.~ Wylow said, shaking her head and licking her fingers clean from painting blood on one of the hides on the ground. ~You know that that's just a set of guidelines that Garthis set up a long time ago? Would he even care at this point?~

~Feel free to ask him about the pack rules yourself. I have to give Ganny a good... 'lesson' about respecting someone's lair, and then I have to rebuild the human's containment area again, so... I'm asking you to keep an eye on it until I come back. Okay?~

Wylow shrugged. ~Whatever. I know that Garthis won't do it, since he'll just eat it. Balhu would probably sit on the poor thing, and all that would be left is paste. And I know that you don't trust Ganny for various reasons.~

~So you'll do it?~

~Very well. I will make sure it doesn't die, become injured, or get eaten.~

~I owe you a kill after this then.~ Kraivod grumbled as he turned away. ~GANNY? A WORD. NOW!~

Wylow watched Kraivod as he went out of her sight to chase down Ganny. Once he was out of sight, Wylow looked down to spot the human with its back turned to her. A fun little idea came into her head. Even though she said she wasn't going to hurt, kill, or eat the human, she won't stop herself from play-hunting it. She split herself in two, giving her false half instructions to appear in front of the human and scare it to her direction.

Wylow was the type of monster that loves to instigate hunt-play sessions with her pack, and encourages the other pack members to play-hunt on each other. What better way to get to know someone by stalking and pouncing them?

* * *

Before Jack could inspect the new chamber he was in, his field of vision was blinded by specks of light that made him flinch for a second. After looking up, he started running the other way when he saw a Wraith with its claws out and screeching at him. "Shit fuck dammit piss ass bitch titty retard bastard cunt Christ damn whore hell Judas god!" Jack said in quick rapidity, using his crutch to get away from the monster behind him as quickly as he could. He thanked his lucky stars that he found this crutch when he did.

He only turned around when he heard what sounded like a fizzing sound that seemed to have stopped the blood curdling screeching. He turned his head as he ran and saw that... the Wraith was dissolving?

He slowed down and turned fully, stepping back slowly, and facing at the nothingness that once had been a Wraith that he was sure had existed there at one point. He heard a slight growl behind him, which made him eep, reflexively turn and use his crutch as a makeshift melee weapon. Jack's weapon managed to bop the Wraith's nose, making it retract as a result.

With the beast nursing a bruised 'nose', Jack then made a mad dash, his mind too foggy with fear to do anything else. And with his head so foggy with fear, he didn't see the hide that was on the ground and tripped on it, eventually landing himself in a bowl of red fluid. Jack gagged on the fluid, which had a salty and irony flavor to it. Blood. He messily scrambled out of the bowl and was trying to run away as fast as he could when he was forced to the ground, the blood he collected on his person splattering the floor of the Wraith's lair messily.

The Wraith had pounced Jack and was above him now, and he could feel his heartbeat thumping against his chest painfully, his crutch pulled away from him. This was it, he felt. This felt like the moment he was going to finally die.

The Wraith clicked her mandibles as it lowered itself onto Jack. Jack felt his veins tingle wildly as the Wraith opened its mouth, the blood soaked on his person being... Jack would not know how to describe it. Pulled off? It was like how a magnet would attract ferrofluid. And then its mouth came down onto him, which suckled the rest of the blood off of his person. Jack really wanted to pass out out of fear, but he wouldn't be that lucky. He had ran out of luck a long time ago and now he paid for it by being so close to this monsters teeth, feeling as though he was being savored. "Ew. Ew. Stop. No. Please. Ugh. Ew." He closed his eyes, wishing for this torment to stop.

When the suckling finally did stop, Jack waited for a minute before looking up. The Wraith was still on top of him. "... Why are you not eating me?"

Jack stared at the Wraith as the Wraith... well... faced back at him, snarling. Jack was unsure how to process this information as he is still somehow alive. But even then, the urge to try and escape was still strong. But the monsters were stronger still. He even tried to push the Wraith off of himself, but the Wraith pressed her claws down hard on Jack, sending the message that he's not going anywhere. This reminded Jack of the pack mentality of the trapjaws, and he realized that what the Wraith was doing was showing her dominance over him.

After laying still on the ground for what seemed like minutes, Jack heard the shuffling of tentacles and flapping of wings neared closer. The Kraken was here again. Great.

After a pause, the Wraith picked him up from the ground and carried him to the Kraken, which in turn went ahead and led the way. The Wraith, the Kraken and Jack ended up back in the lair filled with human technology. Jack's face frowned heavily when the metal enclosure was fixed, though the previous damage was seen as the metal wall deformed by a degree, and the metal sheets were painstakingly bent back into proportion. Jack sighed, as he was placed back into the metal box enclosure. "I'm never getting out of here, am I?"

* * *

~Why were you on top of the human?~ Kraivod asked, putting the human back in the box.

~He tripped into my blood colored paint, so I cleaned it off of it. I'll need to get more soon.~ Wylow said, hissing.

~Ah. I thought you were play-hunting with it.~

~Well... That too. I never hunted a human, and I thought doing that would be perfect for getting to know its kind better. You know?~

~What else is there to know about them? They're small, weak, rely on tools, ruin the environment, and think that everything belongs to them.~

~Uh-huh. Well, I'm going to sleep. If that human manages to escape and decides to come into my lair and lay its eggs, I'm pelting them at you.~ Wylow taunted.

Kraivod turned to stare at Wylow. ~... Uh... Humans give birth. They don't lay eggs.~

~Really? So weird.~

~That's not weird. From what I understand, humans have a system where they vote for a pack leader to lead their civilization. At least, from what I am able to determine, but I think that that's is the weirdest thing about them.~

~Huh. ... Gah, stop keeping me from sleep!~ Wylow said, exiting Kraivod's lair.

~Go get some shut-eye then.~ Kraivod teased.

Wylow growled. The irony was not lost on her.

Tomorrow felt like it was going to be another uneventful day.

* * *

 **A/N: Hhehehehehehehehe. I just had to introduce the DLC characters using DLC as an acronym for the title of this chapter. X3  
**


	3. Turn of Events

**Chapter 3: Turn of Events  
**

* * *

As darkness lifted on the surface, the light of the new day slowly crawled across the land. A new day spawns a new chance to gather food, protect land, and scout for new resources. However, since sunlight from the surface would have a hard time reaching the inner cave system under Bird Mountain, and make it impossible to tell time, the pack would just go to sleep whenever they felt tired. All of the monsters were very restless within the past few weeks, due to game being hard to come by.

But since Garthis was the self-imposed pack leader, he would usually tell everyone when to start sleeping, and usually become the first to awake before anyone else. He would grumble, rolling off of a slab of rock that he chiseled and smoothed to support his form. His spikes and barbs would continually scratch at the rock slab, only to further wear it down until the slab would break under his weight or become reduced to nothing. Garthis didn't mind sleeping on a rock. His body was tough, and built for fighting. Using giant flat boards of wood cut from Shear's various giant trees would not be beneficial for Garthis, since he had a habit of breathing small spouts of flame during his sleep.

He stretched and yawned, the walls of the cavern echoing and warning the others of his waking. Garthis groggily came out from his lair and headed to the cave entrance, disappearing for a time.

The next to wake up was Kraivod, the steps of a rather loud Goliath telling him that their pack leader was up and about. Kraivod remembered that it was Garthis' turn to collect the afternoon meal. Kraivod yawned, stretching out his tentacled jowls and trying to get rid of his morning breath. It was then he remembered yesterdays shenanigans. He looked over at the makeshift enclosure he made for the human, peering into it.

The human was fast asleep, laying uncomfortably on its side. And some of the gel was missing. Good. If the human can feed on the gel, then Kraivod would not worry about finding meat for it.

But then Kraivod sighed. If they were going to migrate tomorrow, then he was going to become more hard-pressed to travel and collect more tools and resources from the already looted human structures. However, with a human in tow, he won't be able to research the human and its tools during their travel to better territories. It was Kraivod's hope that if the dark orb COULD bestow the human telepathic communication, then he could ask it as many questions about the humans during their travels, and absorb a plethora of information from it. The only downside to this experiment was that the human may be able to read their minds. It could mean that the human might be more hard pressed to try and escape from the monsters than ever before. Or it could completely rebel and refuse to answer any questions. After punishing Ganny when she crumbled the human's containment enclosure, Kraivod understood that better materials might be needed for building a bigger enclosure. Maybe a cage could be made?

In any case, Kraivod groaned and flexed his many limbs, fighting away the morning stupor as he went into the main chamber in Bird Mountain Cave, the home of the monster pack. He followed after Garthis, traveling through the underground mountain to reach the cave entrance, and then turn around to a path that went up the mountain. Soon enough, he heard the telltale sign of a being streaking across the warp of space behind himself, cutting through the air with energy with a quiet high pitched screech. ~Heeeeeeeeeeya Krrrrrrrraaaaaaaaaaaaiiiiiiiiiiiiv.~

~Morning, Wylow.~ Kraivod grumbled, proceeding up the path with Wylow following after him.

~You think we will go on a hunt today?~ Wylow asked.

Kraivod shook his head. ~You're asking me this early?~

~Come ooooooooooooon~! Could you at least convince Garthis for a pack hunt sometime this week? I'm getting very bloodthirsty here! Anything would be good! I don't care if we catch Venom hounds, Reavers, Obsidian beetles, or eve a tiny spotter!~

~As I say, time after time again, ask him about it! I'm not your personal reminder.~

Wylow sighed and growled. ~I knoooooooooooow, but he always lays it out so bluntly. Between you and me, I actually enjoy our conversations better than when I'm with Garthis. Sure, between him and you, I would choose him to hunt with since he sometimes injures an animal before I come around and kill it. Oh, how I enjoy those times!~

Kraivod growled too. ~Will you keep those thoughts to yourself? Please? It's bad enough that we must go through this daily ritual when the world around us is slowly having its environment wither to nothing.~

~... You make it sound as though its our fault.~ Wylow said, hissing.

~... Maybe it is. Maybe not. Or maybe it's the humans that started it? Or maybe our wild kin ran amok unchecked and now everything is all gone to ruin? ... Huh...~ Kraivod said, slowing his pace. ~... I just don't know. I've been trying to figure out why, but I still just don't know.~

Even when Wylow and Kraivod reached near the top of the mountain, Wylow hissed at Kraivod and left him. ~You're no fun when your depressed.~

Kraivod watched Wylow go on ahead, zipping off with her warping to meet up with Garthis. Kraivod wondered to himself if Garthis had the heart to tell her and everyone else about the news of moving to a new location. Kraivod knew that Wylow might not take the news very well, but he wasn't sure about Ganny or Balhu. He sighed and burbled quietly to himself. Things are not going to get any easier in the future, that much Kraivod can tell.

Meanwhile, Wylow had met up with Garthis, draping her claws over him sneakily. Garthis continued forward, not minding the stealth-hug. ~Gaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrth~.~

Garthis growled. ~Something on your mind?~

~When do you think we can go on a hunt?~ Wylow asked.

~... Listen.~ Garthis sighed. ~I have some bad news I want to break to everyone. I was hoping that after we had our morning feeding, I would tell to you, Balhu and Ganny.~

~Ohhhhhhh... I hate bad news. Was this the reason why you became so uppity when I was with you yesterday?~ Wylow asked, anchoring to Garthis and letting him pull her around.

He stopped when they were near the glaciapod pens. ~In a way, yeah. I just don't like to reveal bad news in a moment of weakness. I'm supposed to be the strong tough guy in this pack. ... Well.~ Garthis shook his head. ~Aside from Balhu, but he's not intelligently strong.~

Wylow circled around Garthis as though he was her pivot to face him. ~Garthis... Does this have something to do with our food supply?~

Garthis didn't say anything. Not mentally anyway. He made a low trill that represented his answer.

Wylow looked down. ~... I see... So that's why you two have been so quiet.~

Garthis sighed.

It was at that point that Kraivod eventually caught up to them. Kraivod turned to them to look at him and then her. ~... Do you uh... Need some privacy?~

Garthis and Wylow both growled at Kraivod threateningly, glaring at him for his remark.

Kraivod rolled his eyes and looked away. He then paused for a while when he saw something he wasn't sure of. ~... You might want to wait to do that. We have company.~ Kraivod said, pointing to the direction of the glaciapod pen.

Garthis and Wylow looked at the direction Kraivod pointed at and... Oh.

The pen of the glaciapods was nothing more but another cave that was carved out of the mountain, which provided a cool and dark place for the glaciapods to mingle in. Since the snow touched this part of the mountain, the glaciapods would feel comfortable in the chilly environment. They gurgled their complaints when some new creatures decided to chase them around.

Apparently, what seemed like nine striders had somehow made their way into the glaciapod pens and was mingling with the glaciapods. A few of them seemed to be feasting on the gel. ~... Uh... Where did they come from?~ Garthis finally managed to thought out to everyone.

~I don't know!~ Wylow replied, leaning forward off of Garthis. ~But I know what I'm having~!~

Kraivod immediately reacted. ~NO NO NO!~ He said, grabbing at Garthis and Wylow and pushing them out of sight, hoping that their presence didn't scare away the striders.

Both Garthis and Wylow was yanked from their positions and fell down. Garthis sat up and stared angrily at Kraivod, growling. ~What is your problem?!~

Kraivod kneeled down and placed his right appendage onto Garthis' maw, peering at the glaciapod pens as subtly as he could. ~My problem is that I don't want to scare the striders away. We have not had a source of meat in a while, and I think it's a good idea to keep them as livestock.~

Garthis stared at Kraivod and tilted his head. And then he figured it out. Farming the livestock of striders for meat. Of course. ~... Ohhhhhhh... I think I understand what you mean.~

There was a growling that emanated from under Garthis before he was pushed off forcefully by Wylow. She hissed at Kraivod. ~What? But I haven't had meat in a while! Why must we keep these creatures?!~

~Wylow~ Kraivod said, placing his claws on her to keep her still. ~We have not seen prey in these parts in a long time. This might be the last of the striders! We have to carefully breed and ration them.~

Wylow hissed again, shrugging off his claws. ~But... I haven't ate any meat in weeks!~

Kraivod growled. ~Do you want to keep eating gel for the rest of your life?~

Wylow paused. ~...~

~... Well? Do you?~

~... No.~

~Then we put the striders in pens and keep them as livestock. They seem to like to eat the gel, but that's the only extent we have witnessed of them doing as of now. They are now the only supply of meat that we got and we have to be careful how we raise and feed them. Understood?~

Wylow paused a little before turning to Garthis. ~Garthis?~ she said, asking for his opinion.

Garthis got up and brushed flakes of snow off of him. ~He has a point. We'll be keeping them alive until we know how fast they can reliably breed and reach maturity. If there happened to be a wild cephaladon that managed to eat up all of our glaciapods, we can then rely on the striders as our primary food source.~

Kraivod huffed. ~With that said, I'll be needing you to distract Ganny and Balhu, Garthis. Wylow, I need you to keep these striders in this area at all times, and protect them.~ Kraivod said, bursting into the air and going to the trees on the mountain, off of the path up the mountain.

~Wh-... What about you?!~ Garthis telepathically shouted at him.

~I'm going to make a bigger fence!~ Kraivod said, pushing down trees to start collecting them in a pile.

Garthis and Wylow looked at Kraivod as he scrambled to knock over timber and re-purpose them in some way. Garthis and Wylow then turned to look at each other dumbly. When they finally realized what they needed to do, they parted ways.

So far, Wylow had the easiest job. Just keep the striders in one place, scare off any predator close to the glaciapod pens, or scare the prey back into the area and contain them.

* * *

But Garthis had the tougher task. Looking down from the hill, he spotted Ganny zipping up the mountain using her quick web slinging skills. She always seems so eager to eat, signified by her rather frail frame. It could be something akin to insect metabolism that made her so thin and light. Garthis called out to Ganny, despite the brief observation. ~Ganny! Stop right there! I need to talk to you.~

Ganny noticed the mental call to her and slowed down to a stop. Garthis would then proceed to meet with her. Ganny started whining. ~Garth, what is it? Ice sluggies out of pen again?~

Garthis shook his head. ~It's not that. I need you to protect the perimeter of our home. If there is a remote chance that a predator or one of our wild kin comes in our territory, I need everyone to be ready.~

Ganny cocked her head, as though confused by the sudden change of Garthis' behavior. ~Wuh? What happened?~

~I'll tell you later. Balhu needs to be informed about this too, so you need to come with me. Understand?~ Garthis said, growling as though to express his seriousness. Ganny paused for several seconds before she trilled her answer. Garthis trilled in turn. ~Good. Balhu will need to join with us next.~

And speak of the devil, Balhu was slowly plodding up the mountain in the slowest way possible. Garthis wasn't worried about Balhu when it comes to his speed, but he remembered that Balhu happened to be more stubborn that himself, and was more worried about that. Especially when he has his mind set on something. When Balhu had finally reached Garthis and Ganny, he was already exhausted, panting and drooling lava from his maw. However, his expression changed when he saw Garthis and Ganny coming towards him and eventually stopping him in his tracks. ~... Huh? Why are you coming down the mountain so soon?~

~Garth said we are going on perimeter. Garth won't tell Ganny why.~ Ganny said to Balhu.

~But what about our food?~ Balhu whined, clicking his jowls hungrily.

Garthis growled. ~I don't like it when everyone here doesn't have a full belly, and everyone happens to include me too. However.~ Garthis crossed his bulky arms and lowly growled as he telepathed his message. ~We are going to have to look into the possibility of migrating to a different territory soon.~

~WHAT?~ ~WHAT?~ Both responded Balhu and Ganny, making snarling sounds. As expected, they didn't take the news well.

~By this time tomorrow, everyone should be ready to move to a new location. Before we do that, we have to make sure that the way ahead is clear. We don't want to intrude on a territory of anyone that is stronger than our pack's combined strength. With that said, I want you two to...~ Garthis trailed off in his explanation when he saw some distant blots across the land.

Garthis pushed Balhu away as he tried to get a better view of the distant blots. Judging from how far they are, they were only two thirds of a mile away, traveling through the beach and grass area between the ocean and the forest area. One of the blots was bigger than the others. The littler blots numbered in... seven or eight, he would guess.

After several seconds of Garthis' mind slowly turning its gears to figure out what it might be, he finally snapped to attention the moment he figured out what it is. ~ATTACK!~

~What?~ Balhu flinched from Garthis' mental shout.

~ATTACK! I MEAN, We're under attack! Right now! They must have been following a trail that led them here!~ Garthis said, caught by surprise by the apparent coincidental happenstance.

~Trail?~ Ganny questioned.

~No time for talk. We need to act! Balhu, roll down the mountain and make a rock wall on the entrance and protect it. Ganny, you're with me! Fight at my side, but I want you to keep an eye on anyone that strays from the fight and goes for Balhu or anywhere else.~ Garthis said, running down the mountain.

Balhu matched Garthis' speed, traveling beside him. ~But what about breakfast?~

Garthis snarled. ~Do you want them to eat it?~ He said, rhetorically.

Balhu took him a few seconds before realizing the rhetoric. He launched himself forward into the form of a boulder, and rolled down the mountain with an intense speed. When it comes to a race between all of the monsters, the Behemoth would always win in a downhill challenge. Always. Unless he happens to crash into a sturdy tree or tough wall.

Garthis, however, had his own way of traversing the land in great leaps, which was to literally leap into the air via being launched with his powerful legs.

Ganny had to traverse down the mountain the slow method, which was through the method of using legwork. Sure, she could use the downhill trees to reel toward the mountain's base quickly, but she would have little time to carefully aim for each tree. Garthis looked behind himself to make sure she was coming with the defense group. Good. She knows the importance of protecting the territory.

Balhu was the first to reach the Bird Mountain Cave entrance. The incoming blots that were once far away were already closing in, though they were still yards away. About two hundred yards or so, but that number was quickly getting smaller as they got closer. Balhu turned around and summoned up a rock wall by punching into the ground in a certain way. The ground shifted upward at the cave entrance, easily sealing it from any would-be intruder. Balhu then turned around again and stood his ground, waiting and watching at the blots that was coming closer.

The blots came to a stop and finally became more visible in the closer distance. An albino Goliath that was 69 feet tall towered over the minion Goliaths behind him, being only 20 or so feet high themselves. Rather than the projected seven or eight that Garthis had first guessed, there was actually nine minion Goliaths. One alpha Goliath and nine minion Goliaths versus one stage three Behemoth was not a good fight, putting Balhu in the odds of losing.

But when another Goliath came crashing down from the sky, the monster making a sizeable crater from the impact, some of the intruders that were attacking the territory backed away a few steps. The newer Goliath that joined in slowly emerged and revealed himself to be Garthis, letting out a deafening roar to the offending sieging monsters.

The offenders did not back down, as they too roared back at Garthis defiantly, ignoring his warning and giving him a counter proposal for a challenge instead. The offenders looked to be frail, and Garthis could tell that they wouldn't mind feasting on scraps or on their own fallen brethren. Garthis knew that he too had no chance of fighting against a pack of nine minion Goliaths, let alone facing off against a leader that was with them too. Truthfully, he was waiting for Ganny to come to the fight, and he would stall for as long as possible till she arrived.

Garthis learned that when it comes to monster-on-monster fighting between wild monsters, the outcome of a fight is usually determined by which combatant had the most health, is the more ferocious, is hungrier, and is higher on their evolution. Garthis could easily kill five Goliath minions on a good day, since their growths are slightly stunted. Against a big monster like the encroaching alpha, already in stage three of its evolution? Garthis could take it on with skill and tactical forethought. But him against an alpha and nine minions? He would lose easily.

Luckily, Ganny had entered the fray and landed next to Garthis just in time, snarling and chattering aggressively as she spotted the enemy wild kin. In the event of three smart stage three monsters versus one wild alpha monster leading nine minions, ability and strategic telepathic planning would help to put the defenders in favor of a victory. Garthis was very sure of that.

~Now! Like we practiced!~ Garthis mentally shouted at Balhu and Ganny. He thrusts his claws into the ground and pulled a large rock out from the very soil. The alpha Goliath did the same and launched his projectile at Garthis. Thankfully, this gave Garthis a scant amount of time to alter his trajectory and throw his rock at the incoming mass of aggregate minerals. Garthis' rock managed to hit the alpha's rock at a certain angle, affecting its trajectory skyward and making it completely miss its mark, landing behind Garthis and Ganny, and between them and Balhu.

Ganny started launching a network of arachnid silk at the grouped enemies, covering them in a snare of webbing. After that, Balhu reared his head and aimed carefully for a short pause. Then he hacked up a glowing wad of spittle, soaring over Ganny and Garthis and landing at the approaching enemies. The poisonous webs of a Gorgon would do well to weaken and slow them down, while the lava bomb heated the area to health threatening levels. And if that wasn't enough, Ganny used another ability to add to the damage. She... Well... She spewed an acidic fluid and proceeded to cover the approaching enemies, adding an extra layer of continual damage.

The alpha Goliath leaped from his forces and decided to avoid the acidic spittle spray, and came down on both Garthis and Ganny in a leaping smash attack. Garthis and Ganny would be pushed back by the attack, but Garthis pressed on and wrestled against the alpha Goliath in a match of strength and fire. They both clasped each others claws and tried to force one-another to the ground, and blowing fierce infernos into each others faces. Ganny, on the other hand, had launched an egg sack close to her, and then proceeded to manifest an acidic copy of her form. The acid copy proceeded forward and went past the alpha Goliath, heading straight for the minions that were catching up behind the alpha. When the mimic met the minions, the result was an acidic explosion that had killed two of the nine minions. There were now seven that remained.

~Do I smash the ground?~ Balhu asked during the middle of combat.

~Not while I'm on the ground and in the way!~ Garthis mentally said, getting distracted and receiving a raking claw into his face for the trouble. Being on the ground when Balhu used his fissure attack was not a good idea. Soon enough, the minions became unstuck from Gorgon webbing and getting out of the heatwave of the lava bomb, now rushing forward at a determined pace. But it was when they completely ran past Garthis that he understood that the minions were committing to their goal. ~Scratch that, Balhu. Smash the ground now!~ A spiderling, born from Ganny, hatched and latched onto a minion's face and started fucking it to death. Figuratively. Six still breathed.

With large and mighty fists raised into the air, Balhu then smashed into the ground and created a surge of shifting rock that flowed forward. Ganny happened to get in the way and was launched sideways, screeching and complaining about the friendly fire. Again, being on the ground when Balhu used his fissure attack was not a good idea. But Garthis timed the wave of earthly shifting and leaped into the air at the exact moment he needed to. The alpha Goliath's stance became heavily unbalanced as he was assaulted by the shifting of soil and sand under his feet, geological eruptions peppering his legs with shrapnel of sharp pebbles and shards of stone. When the alpha Goliath finally got his footing, he looked up too late when Garthis smashed straight onto his face, effectively breaking a mandible off and dislocating the jaw. The fissure attack had also killed a minion. Down to five now.

The five remaining minions approached Balhu, and he growled menacingly at them, readying his fists to smash any opposition that dared attack him. When the minion enemies got close, Balhu threw around his mighty fists at the lot of them, hitting several and managing to kill one of them. But they completely ran past the Behemoth guarding the mountain cave. Instead, they were now traversing up the mountain. Four began their ascent.

~Uh... The minions are going up the mountain.~ Balhu said, reporting to Garthis and Ganny.

~What?~ Garthis replied, dodging a swipe and then charging into the alpha. He rushed forward in a ferocious and unstoppable attack that pushed the alpha Goliath to the ground. Garthis then proceeded to pick up a rock, not minding the detail that it happened to be the same rock he used to deflect the alpha's rock, and threw it at the minions charging up the hill. Three are still alive. ~Balhu, try and get them before they get away!~

Balhu followed Garthis' order by summoning another rock wall much further away, which managed to wound and kill one of the minions caught in the sudden uprising of spiked stone barrier. Two left.

The two remaining Goliath minions scaled up the wall, despite being heavily wounded and ignoring the monster pack that was defending the entrance of their home. With one final chance to stop the minions progress into their Territory, Balhu launched forth his piercing tongue at a minion, killing it, and launching its corpse in a flail towards Balhu. And then there was the one that got away.

Garthis hissed, struggling with the alpha Goliath that was bearing down on him tooth and nail, while he was doing much of the same on the bigger enemy. ~Ganny!~ Garthis called out, groaning and growling all the while.

During the whole time Ganny had been pushed away from Balhu's fissure, she was recovering from the attack and biding her time before she came back in. She was finicky like that, making sure that her armor was fully healed and regenerated before going in for another romp. Upon Garthis' call, Ganny threw strands of silk at the alpha Goliath and slinged toward him, striking at the offending alpha with melee attacks. She would not risk spitting acid on an ally.

It was during this phase of the battle that the alpha Goliath decided to charge away from the fight and hissed, clutching at his many wounds and gingerly pawing at its jaw when he was at a safe distance away. The alpha made one last bellowing roar at Garthis and his defense force before leaping away. At least the alpha had the common sense to flee. No one was sure if the alpha would return, but there was the possibility that it returning to fight the pack again might happen.

As Garthis watched the alpha jumping away from a distance, he was able to breathe a sigh of relief. He slinked to the ground as he clutched at deep wounds. He had nearly forgotten the feeling of having his natural armor reduced to nothing, his bare hide withstanding real damage. The wounds were superficial, and can easily be cared for. Garthis felt like he could grin so wide that his mouth might ache like the alpha's broken jaw! Sure, Garthis would avoid any unnecessary blows if he needed to. But to Garthis, the thrill was in the battle.

Garthis turned to face the mountain and watched a blot travel up, and sighed.

Balhu met up with Garthis and Ganny, joining them in the aftermath of the battle. ~So uh... Think Wylow and Kraivod will be okay with one minion on the loose?~ Balhu asked.

Garthis sighed and trilled. ~The last minion should be easy to deal with. They should be fine, but I want to go after it.~

~Garth is hurt though.~ Ganny said, poking at an open wound with a curious claw. Garthis growled loudly and sharply, making Ganny back away hastily. ~Garth is mad. Ganny come back later.~ She said, going to the cave entrance and clawed at the shift of earth that sealed everyone out.

Garthis huffed, and decided to go back up the mountain. But before he would proceed to hunt down the final minion, he was stopped by a query. Balhu was curious about something. ~What do we do with the bodies?~

~Don't care. I'm gone. I'll be back.~ Garthis said, leaping up the mountain to try and track the last of the Goliath minions.

As Balhu watched Garthis jumping away from a distance, he was unable to relax in the aftermath of battle. He sat on the ground, clutching at his belly and gingerly pawing at his stomach. He had become reminded of the feeling of having an empty belly, which was groaning demands for food. The hunger kept growing, and there was no prey animal near. Balhu felt like he could eat an entire tyrant three times over! Sure, Balhu would have to kill them before being able to eat them. But to Balhu, the thrill was in the consumption of meat.

Balhu shook his head and decided to have Ganny as a conversational partner, to distract him of his famished state.

Or would have, when he noticed that she was doing something other than clawing at the rock wall that surprised him.

...

And that gave him an idea.

* * *

Wylow was tasked with watching the striders. Well... Watching might not exactly be the term to use on an eyeless creature, which fits Wylow's description. Though, technically, Kraivod did ask for her to keep the striders in the area, and keep predators out. She huffed, peering up once in a while to make sure that the only thing the striders was doing was feeding on the glaciapod gel. However, food is becoming a scarcity, and having to deal with both glaciapod and strider livestock all at once might make things hard for everyone.

Wylow knows how to care for glaciapods, since she has been harvesting their gel for well over a month and learned various tricks from Kraivod's research on them. Their diet seemed to be very simple, subsisting on worms, egg yolk, and flies that were attracted by their excrement. She has no idea how to care for striders, though she was sure that Kraivod would try and figure out a way how to care for them instead. She figured that the striders are a grazing animal, feeding on vegetation. Wylow ate a vegetable once. She spat it out and regretted her decision, partly because she was so sick of eating gel for so long and she wanted to try anything to wash the taste from her mouth.

Kraivod disrupted her train of thought and placed a bundle of logs on the ground with a heavy thud. Wylow hissed at him. ~Shh~! You don't want to scare them away!~

Kraivod growled. ~I don't have enough time to work with, Wylow. I need to work fast to make the fence.~ Kraivod said, immediately retreating to the mountainside to retrieve more logs.

Wylow huffed and relaxed, looking off to the horizon. What she wouldn't give for a good meal to eat. It was not fun to starve while protecting a food source. All in all, it sucked. What she wouldn't give for some sort of excitement in her boring life.

A small, distant thumping sound was heard in the air, distracting Wylow and her attention to the environment. Wylow got up and listened for the source of the noise that was nearing the mountaintop. ~... Kraivod, is that you?~

It wasn't.

A lone minion Goliath bursts from the corner and slugged Wylow on the right side of her face, making her warp away in surprise and hissing loudly at the cheap shot. She raised her scythe arms in a combative stance and snarled at the minion that was intruding her pack's lands. However, rather than face off against the Wraith, the minion still focused on his mission and went for the glaciapod pens. The minion only attacked Wylow because she was in his way.

But the minion made one fatal mistake. He made Wylow angry.

She bursts forward like a projectile and halted immediately in front of the minion, and was quickly building up in red, murderous energy. The explosion was enough to launch the minion a good distance away, careening onto the snow and eventually rolling to a stop. The minion Goliath gurgled weakly, which could mean that he must have broken his neck when it collided with the ground.

Wylow snarled and approached the incapacitated minion, ready to use her claws to cut the intruder into many ribbons when needed. But despite all odds, Kraivod had beaten her to the minion, standing over him. Kraivod looked at the minion with the broken neck. Then he looked at Wylow with a surprised stare. He messily dropped his collection of felled trees with the pile of logs that had been piled up and leaned onto the downed minion. ~Whah... Where did he come from?~

~No clue. He sideswiped me and tried to get into the pen. I stopped him.~ Wylow said, still snarling at the intruder.

~Hmm.~ Kraivod thought. He had many theories as to why a lone minion could have wandered all the way up Bird Mountain and tried to get into the glaciapod pens. ~... I think we might be under attack. There is no way a lone grunt like this one would want to attack a pen by itself. ... So it might stand to reason that Garthis is fighting an invading force.~

Heavy and distant thumps were heard by Kraivod and Wylow, the both of them readying themselves for a possible attack. But Wylow and Kraivod both relaxed when they recognized Garthis traveling up the hill in a hasty manner. After he reached them, he panted hard and looked around. ~You two seen a minion that looks like a smaller version of me anywhere?~

~You mean the one that Wylow had broken the neck of? Right where we are.~ Kraivod replied. ~Something going on?~

Garthis breathed slow and deeply, catching his breath. ~Yeah. There was an attack. An alpha Goliath with nine minions tried to force their way up the mountain. I was able to fight off the leader of the enemy pack, but he buggered off when I and Ganny was about to kill him.~

That was when Wylow decided to cut into the conversation. ~Garthis, you're wounded!~ she said, slithering up to him and inspecting his injuries. The damage wasn't too bad, but a night of sleep could restore him fully. ~Are you okay?~

~I'm fine.~ Garthis said, pawing at Wylow to reassure her. ~But we have one minion here still alive that I want dead.~

A strange white and black aura surrounded the minion, as pillars of light manifested and closed in on the minion. Garthis and Wylow immediately knew what was happening, and backed away quickly. A lightning bolt was created without the need of a storm, and it impacted the minion with a fatal strike, easily boring through the chest cavity and making the minions heart turn into burnt lightning broiled meat. After the coup de grâce, Kraivod burbled. ~You should have chased after the alpha. If he's still alive, then there is no telling when he might come back.~

~When that happens, I'll have all of you to back me up.~ Garthis replied.

~No can do, Garthis.~ Kraivod explained, picking up the minion corpse and throwing it off the path. The harpies, native scavengers of the planet Shear, would find the rare opportunity to feast on monster flesh. Kraivod turned to Garthis and Wylow. ~If we are going to expect another attack, then we have to be together when it happens. It puts me to great displeasure to say this, but... We might have to move the glaciapods and the striders into the cave.~

~WHAT?~ ~WHAT?~ Both responded Garthis and Wylow, making snarling sounds. They were not expecting this.

~Think about it. If the alpha, as you call him, comes back with another pack of minions, then we need to be alert and have everyone at the ready when the siege happens again. You said that the alpha came with nine minions, Garthis?~ Kraivod said, turning to him.

Garthis trilled his answer. Kraivod growled in response. Wylow decided to cut in again. ~Does this mean we have to make a bed for the glaciapods and the striders? This sounds like a lot more trouble than it's worth.~

Kraivod grumbled. ~It is. But the trade-off is that we keep the striders from being eaten and gives me a chance to study them. The gestation period and diet of these striders concern me the most at the moment. ... With any luck, the human might be able to give us some insight on them.~

~Oh yeah... I forgot that we had a human.~ Garthis mentally said aloud, crossing his arms.

~So what do we do? Just carry every glaciapod and strider into the cave with us?~ Wylow questioned.

~If we have to.~ Kraivod said. He picked up a bundle of logs from the log pile and started carrying it down the mountain.

Garthis huffed. ~So I'm going to assume that Wylow and I is going to just sit here and protect the livestock, in case the Alpha decided to double-back and try to eat our striders and kill our glaciapods?~

Kraivod stopped and looked back. ~... Well... Yeah. We can't have our only food source dwindle. I'm going to make a door for the cave entrance into our home. I'll be getting Balhu and Ganny to help me, so try to not let them see that we now have striders.~

Garthis and Wylow trilled in agreement. That was when Kraivod turned and went down the mountain path.

* * *

A lot could happen in a single day, and it all happened in the span of a couple hours. Kraivod grumbled all the way down the mountain, disappointed that the attack happened while they were distracted. But the pack can adapt. They would take shifts when they decide to start sleeping. Garthis would need to rest soon, and enable his wounds to regenerate. All monsters armor can easily restore when given enough time, but can accelerate when nourishment is consumed. But when the armor is stripped away, health can easily become an issue when in the middle of a battle. As such, there was only three effective ways for a monster to restore its health. Evolving, hunting albino tyrants, and rest. Since Garthis is already at stage three of his evolution and there were no albino tyrants for miles around, he will have to rest to heal his lacerations, bruises and burns. There was a fourth way that he could heal, but he hadn't told anyone about it yet.

He stopped grumbling when he finally got to the base of Bird Mountain and... What was Balhu and Ganny doing?

Kraivod dumped the bundle of logs and approached the two monsters that was feeding on... something. It was when he got closer that he realized what they were feeding on. ~What are you two doing?~

Balhu rises up from the meal he was eating. ~Oh. Hi Kraivod! Did you happen to see a minion up on the mountain? It looked like Garthis, but a lot smaller.~

~Yes, but...~ Kraivod came closer and pushed Balhu away from his current meal. ~What are you eating? Minion Goliaths?~

~Well... Yeah.~ Balhu said. ~Is there something wrong with that?~

~You know how Garthis feels when you eat other Goliaths.~

~... Yeah, well... I know that. But he said to me he didn't care about what we did with the bodies. And I did what Ganny was doing at the time.~

~Don't blame Ganny for this, Blue!~ Ganny shrieked, her chin and mandibles bloody.

Kraivod sighed and growled. ~Consider Garthis' feeling when you eat a breed of monster that remotely looks like him, whether or not he is around. Understand? Cannibalism is not something he likes to see his pack performing. ... Actually...~ Kraivod was thinking things through. This might actually be useful. ~Are you filled up on food?~

Balhu looked down and rubbed his belly. The hot molten stomach made Balhu's fingers redden slightly, but he found an answer to give to Kraivod. ~Actually, yeah! I haven't been this full in a while!~

~That because Blue ate more than Ganny!~ Ganny said, hissing at Balhu.

~Enough out of you.~ Kraivod said to Ganny, growling and taking a step toward her, making her back away hastily. ~I'm more than willing to let this slide, THIS TIME. But since we are short on food, drastic measures have to be explored when it comes to survival. In the meantime, you will be assisting me with carrying some logs down the mountain.~

~What for?~ Balhu asked.

~Building a door.~ Kraivod replied. ~That means you are going to help me too, Ganny.~

Ganny hissed again, but felt more content to wipe the blood from her face and lick her claws. ~Fine fine fine. Ganny can help Kraiv.~

Kraivod trilled, then started to go back up the mountain with Balhu following him. ~... And before I forget, please don't tell Garthis that you have eaten minion flesh.~

Ganny followed after Kraivod and Balhu. ~Ganny won't tell Garth.~

Kraivod trilled again and moved on. At least they will have a moment of peace before hell breaks loose again. When that happens, nobody would really know. But at least they would be together, prepared, and ready to face any challenger that dared tried to take their territory. The sooner they set up a barricade to the cave entrance, the quicker they can prepare for the alpha's comeback.

But somewhere else in the meta-universe, there was someone else who was also making preparations for a fight in their future.

* * *

 **A/N: This is how a monster vs monster battle plays out, right? '3'  
**


	4. The Story of Nomad

**Chapter 4: The story of Nomad**

* * *

A large room was located underground, virtually empty of its current staff at the moment. Several computer monitors lay on top of three desks while many more screen monitors was installed into the wall facing the front of the desks. An elevator was located opposite from the wall of screens, and three other rooms joined the large room. Two could be entered perpendicularly, whether or not one would face the wall of screens or the elevator and turn left or right, while another door was located at the right side of the wall of screens which led into the server room.

The light in the large room flickered on to reveal the large central room to be a surveillance control room, as two men groggily entered with breakfast trays. The both of them took their positions at their stations, leaving the desk on the left unoccupied.

The two men, one Caucasian and the other of a tan complexion, wore collared shirts and overall pants with black business shoes. The Caucasian man was blond haired with green eyes covered by brown framed glasses, growing out a thick ponytail, looking like he had recently gotten out of a shower and was cleanly shaven. He was also overweight. The other man had brown hair with blue eyes, keeping his hair short with the exception of his unruly facial hair that draped the front of his chest. He was thin, but muscularly built.

"Morning, Kev." Said the man in blond hair.

"Morning, Tom." Said the man in brown hair.

The both of them slowly performed the daily ritual of turning on the computer monitors and starting up the surveillance system. The desk monitors glowed on, revealing the startup screen. After some clicking on icons here and there, they turned on the wall of screens which showed the words 'no signal'.

"Start-up, complete." Said Tom, putting on his telephone headset. He craned his neck, letting pops pervade the air. "Alright, Kev. Turn on the application."

Kev clicked on an icon and clacked furiously to put in a twenty digit password. Once the password was set, the application ran, connecting to the server room behind the wall of screens and activated their main purpose. "Activation of the application is set to test evaluation." Kev said.

"I hate it when you make that rhyme every time." Tom said.

"Hypocrite."

"Asshole."

"Speaking of assholes." Kev said, turning to Tom. "Do you think the directors will be merciful enough to get us a new staff member today?"

Tom shook his head. "Listen. We sent them a message of request a week ago. We don't need to send them another one, or we're going to get ourselves a one way ticked to getting fired."

Kev snorted and minded his own desk monitors. "It was just a question."

"Anyway, count the lights."

"Aight." Kev clacked onto his keyboard and looked at some technical data. "... The morning light-check is as follows. 30 blue. 490 green. 213 yellow. And 11 red."

"A lot of people awake this morning." Tom said.

"Must have been another slave movement."

"If anything, that one big clan's highest officers are known to be slave drivers."

"Yeah, well, assholes are assholes. I'm still rooting for Nomad though. I wonder if he's still..." He checked his computer monitor for a specific detail. "... Ah-hah! He's still alive! Three hundred days of still being alive! That has got to be a new record or something!"

Tom rolled his eyes. "Dammit. I'm going to become bankrupt on this bet."

Kev chuckled. "You could always take it up with the directors. They might send someone down to slap someone on the wrist. Not sure whose, but I can always make another side bet."

There was two sets of rings that sounded behind them, a light above the elevator activating and showing the color of the elevator to be a deep crimson.

Kev and Tom turned to look at the elevator. Kev decided to voice his opinion. "Well well! Speak of the devil and he will come!"

"Shut up. You're going to get us in trouble with that mouth of yours one day." Tom said, turning off the screen wall using his computer by pressing a shortcut command. Tom then proceeded to turn off the monitors on his assigned desk.

"Lick my grundle." Kev replied, turning off the monitors on his desk as well. The elevator behind them ringed twice again.

They got up from their desks and faced the red door that was now the brightest object in the room. It was part of protocol to turn off all surveillance monitors and screens in case there was a visitor coming down the elevator. The elevator ringed six more times, twice between two more intervals before a ding sound signified that the elevator reached their floor.

The red doors parted to reveal two people. One was that of security officer with an automatic weapon. He wore a black uniform with several tools attached to his belt, one of which was a radio that made small bleeps from time to time. His face was hard and angular, and his beret sat atop his bald head. The other was that of a young woman, wearing a collared shirt with a dark, long skirt. Black stilettos clacked on the ground any time she were to move. Her hair was long, wavy, and fiery red. Her skin was pale and freckled, but her eyes were a hazel color. She was curvaceous from the waist down, but was... gifted in the upper torso. However, onlookers would be scorned heavily by her deadly glare should they stare at her form for too long.

The security officer came into the surveillance room and cleared the air. "Alright, desk jockeys, listen up." He said, gesturing to the woman. "This is your new staff member that you requested. The directors at the Moderator Subdivision would like for me to say to you that they apologize for making you wait for so long. Apparently, there was a bug in the mail system, and the pneumatic tubes had to be shut down to fix the programming error."

"Well... Hello there, miss...?" Kev said, already moving towards her.

"Ah ah! Stay there or step back." The security officer said, pointing his Colt 9mm SMG at Kev.

"... Oh right. Protocol." Kev said, stepping back.

The officer turned to the woman. "On behalf of the staff at this facility, we welcome you into the fold of surveillance research, for the inventive analysis of the test subjects you will be studying. You are not to feel remorse, sympathy, or a sense of moral judgment when looking through the spyglass as you record and copy your results. The data you collect on a daily basis must be put into a pneumatic canister to be sent to the board of directors in the Admin Division. If there is a problem with a piece of technology or if you were to request some office items or food, send a request to maintenance. If there is a problem with the staff here, or that there is a leak in security, or if there happens to be someone down here that is not me, you, those two idiots, or anyone who has the authority to be here, either send a request to security or pull the alarm switch. I advise from pulling the alarm switch unless there is a real emergency. If there is something else that you would request, then direct the request to the board of directors in the Moderator Subivision and they will decide if the item you requested is either acceptable or a security risk."

The woman nodded and looked around. "... Not exactly how I pictured it."

The security officer chuckled. "What would you expect it to be? It's an underground facility! Anyway... If you perform your work in the way we expect of you to do, your pay will be deposited in an offshore account to your name. Sixty million dollars for the first twenty eight days. But should you decide to remain faithful and loyal to the secret research project, you also receive forty million dollars every fourteen days after. But know this: Upon agreeing to the terms in this secret research project, you have been reminded that should you decide to leave the project, you will be monitored twenty four seven." The security officer then stiffened his stance and lowered his volume. "Should you ever leak information about the secret project in any way, or if other people close to you leak information about the secret project in any way, you will be terminated on the spot, the people you worked with or seen with will be terminated on the spot, and your close family members, relatives, and friends will be terminated on the spot. If anything, we will be very thorough in removing your identity and records from the world silently and efficiently, making sure that you are not only deceased, but also forgotten from the world. Do. I. Make. Myself. Clear?"

The woman gulped. "Uh... Yeah. Clear as crystal."

The security officer grunted and patted her on the shoulder. "Good. And don't feel scared. Just obey the rules and nothing bad happens. If you need anything, or just want to talk, just use our custom email system and I'll get to your messages eventually. I go by Scrufty Eight three nine, capital s and capital y. No cellphones, no sending messages to anyone outside of the facility, and most importantly, your time on the internet is monitored. Sure, we will look the other way if you wanted to look at porn. I mean, I get it, we humans have base needs and we feel like we need to entertain ourselves sometimes. But using a messaging system, like a social media site or a chat client during your stay at the facility is liable to get you terminated, whether or not you opt out of the secret research project. Have a good stay, and welcome to SRP:R."

The security officer shook the woman's hand and then left, using the elevator to exit the underground room. The woman turned and looked at the two surveillance scientists. There was a long pause before Kev broke the silence. "So uh... I didn't get your name."

"Monica Beckly McDonnell. And you two are?"

Kev stepped forward again. "I'm called Kevion Daughters. Feel free to call me Kev at any time. My associate and partner over there is Tom." He said, putting his hand out in a handshake.

Tom stepped forward and introduced himself next. "Thomas Patterson. Nice to meet your acquaintance."

"Likewise." She said, ignoring the offered hand from Kev. "So... Did that security officer used to be a serial killer?"

Kev chuckled loudly. "He he he, nooo. Paul is actually quite the cornball. He likes to act tough to newbies and rookies alike."

"I see... Where will I be working?"

"The desk on the left. You're in charge with a lot of typing and printing data that will be sent to the admins. How quick can you type?" Kev said.

"I leaned how to touch type by the age of eleven. But other than that, I am told not to reveal too much information about myself or... they say that that too can cause a breach of security." Monica said.

"Ah-hah. Well, we're kind of running late, so take a seat over there and well run you through how we do things here." Kev said, gesturing to her desk.

She approached her chair and appropriated herself to the new working conditions, turning on the monitors on her desk. Tom came up to her and started describing in detail how her workstation... well... worked.

"Alright, you know how to turn on your desk monitors. Good. Just know that from here on out, things will be a little tedious. From here, the applications that you have available is the camera surveillance, monitored internet, and the messaging system. You should know that the screens are here to not only analyze the test subjects, but also to survey the research of your coworkers. For example, if I were to open a paint program on my computer..." Tom said, going back to his desk to open the application. "It should come up on your center screen."

The application Tom opened appeared on Monica's center screen. "So this means I get to watch you draw?"

"More than that. It can also help share our research with one another very quickly and efficiently. The directors designed it so that we don't miss any details between each others research, I would guess. However, if you want to put your cursor onto a different screen, hit left control while on the desktop and any numbers between one through three above the qwerty keys, not the numbers on the number pad. As a general rule, I usually control the screen in the middle, and Kev gets command on the one on the right. If you want to send a saved file to one of us, simply right click it and choose 'move to middle', or 'move to right'. You can also take control of my screen right now and draw something on it, if you wanted to."

"Well... I'm not an artist, but... Let me see what I can do." Monica went onto her computer keyboard and moved her cursor to Tom's screen. She quickly made the frame of a house and panted the walls with a bright blue color. And to top it off, she made a crude chimney with gray smoke coming out of the top, and a window with a smiling face behind it.

"Well, that's an adorable house!" Kev complimented.

"Thank you, I guess."

Tom nodded and moved on. "Alright. Activate the screens, Kev."

Kev did as asked, and activated the wall of screens that showed a point-of-view perspective of... people? People that were fighting with one another. People that were busy striking stone, ore and trees. People that were busy making and crafting things. People that were busy building structures. People that were hunting animals with spears. It was all confusing to Monica. "... What the hell am I looking at?"

"Test subjects." Kev replied. "Each and every one of them. They're all running around on an island right now, in the beautiful madness and insanity fueled chaos of base desires, primal urges, and the need for limited resources."

Monica blinked.

Tom stepped in. "Think of it as an experiment where we put clones on an island, with experimental technology that enables us to glimpse into their everyday lives. What they see and hear, what they encounter and make by themselves, how they mingle with one another and how they fight, it's our job to extrapolate on that data and then send it to the directors in the Admin Division."

"Strange kind of test to put on a bunch of clones. Where do they get the donor DNA?" Monica asked.

"Usually from the staff if they have nothing wrong with their biology. Do you or a family member suffer from a health condition, a genetic disorder, or a hereditary disease?"

"Uh... Well, I know that my older sister suffers a little from mild macromastia and lipidemia."

"Oh, she sounds like fun." Kev said.

Tom threw an empty cup at Kev. "Sounds to me like you might not have a chance to be a good candidate for genetic donation then. Just as well. Would be kind of hard to see yourself up on one of these screens as a bald and freckle-less version of yourself, fighting with the other inhabitants. Anyway, we get up at around six-oh-clock in the morning and turn on the monitors. We then monitor the test subjects for fourteen hours. Once the fourteen hours are over, a night-shift surveillance team will take over for us and cover fourteen at another location. Could you kindly click on the camera icon? That's the application for the surveillance system."

Monica went to her own window and clicked on the camera icon, bringing up the surveillance application. "Ew, gross. I think this guy is picking his nose!"

"Yeah, we see that happen sometimes. Using this application is pretty simple. Type a number between one and nine hundred and ninety nine using the numpad, press enter, and you will see in the perspective of a living clone. If you want to see through the eyes of a random clone, just press R." Tom then pointed to the wall of monitors. "Up there is a display of fifty active clones at once, which cycles every minute. To see the number of a specific camera perspective, simply hold I to make each screen on the wall flash and show their respective camera numbers."

"How are the cameras positioned on their faces like that?"

"Implants." Kev replied.

Monica sat up to peer at Kev, curious about his comment about implants. "Implants?"

"Yeah! Each clone is surgically implanted with two tiny high-tech cameras within their eyes, two tiny high-tech microphones in their ears, and a special little global positioning device that sits next to their heart. Sadly, if they were to, oh say, die, the implants would self destruct and form what looks like fine metallic silt. The silt would mix with the blood or get blown away by the wind, nobody the wiser to our surveying methods."

Monica stared at Kev for a little bit before she turned to the wall of screens and crossed her arms, feeling impressed by this method of observation. "A little overboard when it comes to subtlety. But I gotta admit, that's a lot of effort just to put tech in fifty people's bodies."

"Actually, there's seven hundred and thirty three people with the camera eyes, microphone ears, and GPS device implants currently alive."

"... Seven hundred people with all those implants? That doesn't seam easy to believe! How much funding went into this?" Monica said, surprise in her voice that was making the room fill with her awe.

"You would be surprised how far nanotechnology can cut the corners of costs and resources. Every implant that the clones on the testing area have in their bodies is made up of nanoscopic machines, able to reform themselves to create the necessary complex mechanisms that we use to study them. Press the M key, and you'll see what I mean."

Monica did just that and her screen lighted up with a geographical scale of an island. There were tiny blips of light that showed where each inhabitant was located at on the island. The right side of the island seemed to be much brighter than the rest of the map.

"See all those white dots on the screen? Every one of those dots represents a test subject that is alive." Kev explained. "Pressing control I brings up specific data on your screen, as well as on the wall, on the test subjects. If your viewing the map of the test area, then the dots will turn to a different color. But we mostly use the monitor wall to sum up the total for each colored light on the map. The blue numbers represents how many new clones have been activated in the past twenty four hours. The green numbers represents how many clones have survived past the twenty four hour period of activation. The yellow numbers represents how many of the clones are inactive, or simply put, sleeping. And finally, the red numbers represents how many clones have died within the last twenty four hours. We pretty much sum up the total of lights in what we call a 'light-check' every morning."

"I see. So uh..." Monica said, pressing the R key to cycle through different clones. "You said that they have small microphones in their ears. Does that mean we can hear what they are doing?"

Tom decided to answer that question. "Well, if you want to. Just hit E to have the audio in your headphones only, but you can also hit control E for all of us to hear through an intercom. Anyway, press the P key instead."

Monica pressed P and saw text fill her screen. "... What am I looking at?"

"Biographical data. Their personal information that we have helped make on our own time. Looks like you found Ankles."

"Ankles?"

She looked at the text on her screen and carefully read it. Basically, it was the profile that displayed the name and description of the clone. The description seemed to account for several deeds that the clone has done in the past, followed by several details that describes the clone's personality.

"Yup. Say, let's hear what is happening on her end, shall we?" Kev suggested.

"Alright. Pressing control F on Monica's screen for the image to be on the wall monitors, and control E for us to hear what is happening." Tom said.

* * *

A sobbing sound was heard close by, as the camera view showed that a makeshift gun was pointed towards a wooden door. Heavy thunk sounds of sharp metal against wood was heard. "GO AWAY!" cried a shrill feminine voice. "I WILL FUCKING KILL YOU IF YOU BREAK IN!"

"Fuck you, bitch! I do whatever the fuck I want! And I want your stuff, and I want it now!" roared back a masculine voice, supposedly the one who was making the thunk noises.

The woman looked upon her person to take out a bean can with a wick attached on the top. She lit the wick and threw the can at a window that was above the door. An explosion reverberated the wooden walls, and a loud screaming sound could be heard afterwards. Then the woman opened the wooden door and came out of a wooden enclosure and into a grassland area. She aimed her weapon on a downed person in a collection of street signs that was worn like armor. A single shot was forced into the head of the burglar, and the woman started looting from the corpse.

* * *

"Fucking hell!" Was Monica's reply when she pressed control E to turn off the speaker system.

"Yeah, uh... We see that happen sometimes too." Tom replied, clacking at his keyboard to look up some technical data. "Do we know who that clone was? The one who got downed by Ankles?"

"Hang on, checking the map." The wall of monitors showed the image of the map that was once on Monica's screen. The image kept zooming in till there was a red dot and a green dot. "Clicking the red dot now." Kev looked at his screen. "... Oh fucking bullshit!"

"What? What happened?" Tom asked in earnest.

"Thuggador the Door Breaker has survived for one hundred and twenty five days. Till today that is. Still, it looks like You won two hundred and fifty million on that bet." Kev said with a scowl.

"Well... I just might make it out okay!" Tom said, smiling broadly and leaning back on his chair.

"What just happened?" Monica asked, curious as to what their exchange was.

"Oh, ah-heh. That." Kev said, rubbing the back of his head. "You see... When you work down here as long as we have, you kind of have to find a way to keep your mind entertained. And as a result, we just kind of started gambling on the lives of clones."

"... That sounds... VERY immoral." Monica said, shaking her head.

Tom sighed. "It kind of is. But between the few board games that we played so often, and the danger of going on the internet with the threat of death if you so much as contact someone, I'm liable to take a few liberties and at least get some extra money during my time here."

"... Well... It's not like the clones could mix well with society if someone decided to free them. How do you play?"

Tom and Kev looked at Monica with surprised expressions. Kev raised his eyebrow and chuckled aloud. "Didn't think you were a gambling woman!"

Tom turned to Monica and explained the rules. "Alright, so I crunched my numbers on the amount of pay we get in our offshore accounts. If you work with us for the first month , you are able to acquire a total of sixty million dollars in your offshore account. But for every fourteen days after, you get forty million dollars. That's about two point eight million dollars a day!"

"That's enough to get you a nice home. But what do you bet on?" Monica asked.

"We bet on how many days a clone survives." Kev said, yawning and stretching his arms into the air. "It's works like this, rookie. You pick a random number between one and one thousand. Then you pick what amount of money you are willing to bet on, between one cent and two million dollars. And finally, you pick how many days that particular person is going to live."

"That simple?" Monica asked.

"Yup!" Kev said. "One person would bet that the clone would live longer than the days he was given, while another would bet against the clone on the chance that the clone will not live past the number of days we gave him. And to top it off, each day that passes means that the dollar amount that you chose goes into the pot. And this is how the game is played!"

"Hmm! So what is the biggest bet going on now?" Monica asked.

"Six hundred million on sixty nine. And I'm the one that bet against." Tom said, huffing.

"Yeeeaaaaah, good ol' sixty nine~!" Kev said, thrusting a fist into the air.

"Who is sixty nine? How long was this clone in the bet?"

Kev clacked furiously onto his keyboard, and showed upon the monitor wall the point-of-view angle of a man hunched over a campfire in a shack made of sticks. "Camera number sixty nine belongs to the ever so famous hunter, and role model that I happen to look up to. The person that affectionately calls himself 'Nomad'. He has survived the bet far longer than any other clone on the island by far. Nearly ten months! Hah!"

"Wipe that smug smile off your face!" Tom warned Kev. "You still have two more months to go before you get the money. But... If he were to die before that time... That money is as good as mine."

"Oh-hohohohoh, I am QUAKING in fear!" Kev said, sarcastically.

"Hm. I think I'll play this game with you guys. Is there anything else I need to know?"

"... Oh yeah." Tom said, remembering something. "Usually, every two years, the maintenance guys come down the elevator shaft to perform a server wipe. Kev and I set our rules so that the days we bet on the clones don't go past server wipes. After all, we acquire a new location to survey new clones when the server wipe comes. I don't know what they do with the old clones, but I think it's best not to ask the directors that question."

"Yeah." Kev said, looking wistful. "It would be a shame to no longer see Nomad on these screens again."

"Alright. So, random camera number, right?" She clicked the R key to see the POV of a random clone. He seemed to be using a rock to bludgeon a defenseless clone that had no armor or weapon to protect himself. "Can I bet against for two million every day before server wipe with... Camera number one? Oh! What are the chances!?" Monica exclaimed.

Kev and Tom slowly turned to stare at Monica. "Uh... Hey Tom, you want to bet for?" Kev asked.

"Yeah, I'm betting for also." Tom said.

"Alright, it's settled. Each of us will will put two million into the pot every day. If he dies before the wipe, you get the spoils." Kev gestured to Monica. "That's six million a day, every day till he dies. But if he happens to live long enough till the server wipe, Tom and I will win and split the bet on that day."

"Alright! Let me see who this guy is." Monica said, pressing control P.

... She did not like who she was betting against. She could hear Kev and Tom chuckling to themselves.

"You knew who camera one was the whole time?" Monica said, giving them a furrowed glare.

"Eh. It's easy money for us." Kev said, giving Tom a fist-bump.

Monica rolled her eyes and switched to a random clone again. Oddly, she landed on camera 69 by sheer chance, the clone called Nomad. After staring through Nomad's eyes as he was watching the fire in the shack, Monica finally decided to hit the E key and listen to the fire with him.

* * *

Deep within a forest, in the morning but still nighttime, a lone hunter sits in his shack. He gazed languidly at the fire he made as he cooked today's kill. Boar was hard to come by, but it would fill him as much as he needed.

Ten months ago, he had woken up in the forest during the morning, armed with only a rock, two lengths of bandages, a torch, and no clothing to speak of. All he remembered was... Something. A watery place where his mind buzzed painfully, and his bones and flesh aching every time he moved a muscle.

But during those ten months on this island, he had learned to survive on his own. He traveled everywhere on the island in the span of just six months, gaining much knowledge and learning from the land he lived and traveled on. Eight kilometers wide, or nearly five miles squared to those who don't know about the metric system, the island itself is fraught with violence and savagery. Nearly everyone fights over resources in the form of land, weapons, armor, food, and recruits. The people in the island war their ugly disputes in a show of strength and brutality, something of which this particular hunter grew disdain for overtime. It was only four months ago that he had decided to lead the life of a hermit, and live out the rest of his days in this forest. Its trees grew near the center and to the east of the island, giving it the name that many knew as 'The Great Eastern Woods'. Despite its name, the woods were not so great as trespassers would cut down the trees in his home for their resources. Especially that one clan that lived down south, making their home right on top of a river.

As he sat near the fire, he remembered simpler times when he wasn't so experienced. Everywhere he traveled, people would either show him kindness or aggression. The people who showed him kindness was given kindness in turn, telling them his experiences of the land. The aggressive people were rewarded with death and or misfortune. This hunter gained quite the reputation within the land in the first month, and was given the nickname 'Nomad'. Reputation turned into fame, and fame turned into trouble for him. Various people from different clans would try to recruit Nomad to join their cause. Each time they did, he refused their offer. Some of the times when he refused, he was chased and hunted for deciding against joining a clan. Such is the life of a celebrity. In fact, it had gotten so bad that it had made Nomad decide to live the life of a hermit and remain in solitude for the rest of his life.

Sure, people still tried to find him now and again, whether or not to get some helpful advice for surviving or kill him to gain fame. Intruders he would protect his home from would be given the choice to promise to leave and never return, or to die by his hands. Once living the nomadic life, Nomad now lived here as a hermit that now protected the Great Eastern Woods. Upon cooking every piece of boar meat he needed, he smothered and extinguished the campfire and sat upon the creaky stick floor of a stick shack he built. He then enjoyed a piece of cooked boar meat and listened to the forest around him.

The serenity of the forest was always so calming. The howling of wolves were distant and far away, no doubt finding a poor animal to eat. Birds would start chirping as the new morning came, the light of the world greeted with birdsong once again. The calm breeze that made the trees gently sway would cover the ground in a new layer of leaves, providing food for the mushrooms. Such is the nature of being in the outdoors. No matter what people say, they will always be part of the wilderness, no matter how much they try to tame the land they came from. After all, nature itself is inconsistent.

Nomad stopped himself mid-chew when he heard the distant footfalls and voices. The timing between each distant step was clear to him. A man or woman... no... Men and or women was going through his forest. Nomad went to the only door of his shack and exited, sneaking towards the origin of the distant footsteps, using trees and bushes for cover.

Nomad came closer to the distant noises of people stepping through the bush. When Nomad got a good view of the intruders in his forest, he saw that they wore wooden armor on their chest and legs, camouflaged pants and snow jackets, boots, and forest camouflage baseball caps. There were four traveling together in his forest.

"So I guess your neighbor had it coming the whole time, huh?"

"Yeah. Bastard had it coming. Turns out that if you don't work your dues, you go into temporary slavery. He was avoiding the labor administration offices so much that they finally reported him to the guardsmen. My neighbor... well... word is that they discovered so much incriminating evidence that he was sentenced to life in slavery with no parole. I give him about a week if they decide to put him to work in the tundra territories. Less if they force him to do labor work naked."

"Man, that's awful!"

"Yeah, man. It's cold up there."

"Can never have anything for free."

"Unless you're the emperor."

"Damn straight."

"Why are we here again?"

"Pf. Why do you even need to ask that?"

"I keep forgetting."

"Well, our lieutenant told us that there is a guy that is preventing the western expansion from developing. We find him, and then give him a choice to either join our cause, or suffer the wrath of Ormegilidan."

"Can we have fun with him first?"

"If we can catch him, yeah. We only need to wound him enough to incapacitate. Once he's down, he has no choice but to listen to us and choose his fate. So try to aim for the legs this time, okay?"

"Straight up. And yeah, I'll curb my murderous tendencies for the moment."

Nomad's left eye twitched as he gritted his teeth involuntarily. He was not one to take orders from anyone. Let alone from what he can assume was the chieftain from a clan called Ormegilidan. And what or who is this 'emperor' person? Nomad readied his spear and went back to his shack. He will have to prepare when they decided to walk to his neck of the woods.

Nomad felt as though thirty five minutes had passed, where it only took him ten to set up the necessary traps he needed to bring down the squad of four people searching for him. He also carried a crossbow, a bow, two stone spears, a salvaged sword, a rock he was prepared to throw, and several bandages. He waited patiently for the footfalls to reach near his shack. Sure enough, a group of four was predictably coming his way.

The group plodded forward and combed the forest for the man they were going to hunt and incapacitate. The only thing they knew about the one called Nomad was that he was the oldest living resident on the island. The average lifespan of any islander is usually around three or five months, usually meeting the end of their lifespans by natural deaths. And it is part of the nature of this island for one inhabitant to murder another inhabitant through grizzly means.

"Hey. There's a shack here. Form up." One within the group said, supposedly the leader. They slowly and silently went up to the only shack in the woods and inspected it's dimensions. It was a single room shack that had no windows, but it had a single door that could be accessed. The supposed leader went to the door and knocked a few times. "Excuse me, but perchance there is someone in that could spare some scraps of morsels to a starving fellow islander?"

There was a long pause of silence. "Hmm... I don't like this."

"Nobody asked you. Get the bean can satchel charges."

One of the persons in the group placed two square packages covered in a cloth binding and holding bean cans onto the door. When it was set, the person lighted the wick. "Breaching in nine." He said, retreating and taking out a makeshift weapon and aiming towards the door.

Everyone within the squad stepped back and readied their weapons, steadying themselves for the breach into the small shack. Ten seconds after the satchel was set, it exploded with enough force as to blow the entrance wall open with a flash of destruction. The intruders aimed their weapons carefully, but found the shack to be devoid of any people.

One of the intruders scouted the empty shack. "... Welp. Looks like it's abandoned."

"Check the campfire."

"Okay." The scout pawed into the ashes of the campfire that had been extinguished several minutes ago. "... Slightly warm. Smells like food was cooked here a while ago. There is still some wood and charcoal here."

"Then whoever lived here is still close by, or might be planning to come back here." The leader said, readying his rifle.

"Don't you think whoever was once here must have fled like most people would?"

"This man isn't most people."

The men under the leader got the message and armed themselves, getting into a tight formation that enabled them to cover their backs and cover their flanks. He had a point after all. Even though it took an inexorable amount of luck just to survive so long on the island, it also took a greater amount of skill just to live this long.

A thud drew their attention, all four guns trained to a bush that was the source of the noise.

"You better come out silently or we will open fire. Do you comply?"

There was no answer.

"Fire at the shrubbery!" Guns fired at the offending bush, peppering its leaves with lead and superior firepower. After what seemed like thirteen seconds of gunfire, the leader held up his hand to tell his squad to cease fire. There was a sudden silence through out the dark morning in the cool, slowly becoming brighter by the minute. "... One of you go check for a body."

The scout that had blown the shack's door crouched down and fox-walked forward, silently approaching the bush with genteel caution. He peered into the brush. "... I don't see a body, sir."

"Anything else?"

"Just a rock and a-" The scout was sent back by an explosion, becoming dead as a ragdoll of meat. No one will know what he would have said after the landmine came into his life and ended it.

The remaining three was then assailed by a stone spear and an arrow from two simultaneous directions. Two people went down screaming from the attack, leaving the leader to spin around wildly. "Ambush!" He leaned down to pick up one of his downed squad mates. He took out the arrow that had nearly punctured his heart and bandaged the wound. "Listen. Go back to the encampment and tell the lieutenant that we were attacked. Make haste!" The person he picked up nodded and started running eastwards. But he was then shot down dead as an arrow was fired into his head. Another arrow was fired in quick succession and killed the remaining incapacitated wounded, leaving only the squad leader to be the last alive. He took deep breathes and looked at the recently killed cadavers. The feathered bit of the shaft always points to the shooter. The squad leader pointed his custom bolt action rifle toward the direction of the asshole that killed his group in such a short time.

There was a far off bush that he shot into, but missing each and every time as he unloaded. He then paused and stepped back, carefully backing away. He knew well that he was up against a professional survivor. No... a master survivor. The art of the kill was of no challenge for the famous Nomad, and the men he lead to their doom was his paintbrush.

A sudden burst of pain made the squad leader drop down as he stepped onto a bear trap, anchoring his leg into place, which made him squeal his displeasure. He fell to the ground and clutched at his leg, grunting and trying to keep his screaming down. A foot forced him to the ground, making him look up to find a man that wore pants, boots, and a poncho made from hide. He also wore leather gloves and a burlap headwrap that hid his face. This man must have been the hermit of the Great Eastern Woods. Nomad.

Nomad leaned down and put a sword to the intruders neck. "I apologize for my rude behavior, but certain scenarios demanded certain actions."

The intruder chuckled, though he was in deep pain. "You're that guy called Nomad, right? You're pretty good. Suppose you want to hear my proposition before we part ways? Assuming that you would let me live to hear it first, of course."

"I am him." Nomad nodded his head and turned around to face the dead men that he had killed. He paused before turning back to the squad leader. "If I am remembering correctly, you said some things to your men before you met me. Correct me if I'm wrong, because I think I had something in my ear at the time. You said something about finding me, and giving me the choice to join your cause, or suffer the wrath of... What did you say your clan's name was? Ormagildon?"

The squad leader shifted his weight. "Ormegilidan. And it's not a-" The squad leader's face was covered by a palm and had his head shoved into the ground.

"I just needed the name. You tell your clan leader that I am not interested. In the meantime, I will allow you to live just this once. Promise to never enter this forest again. In exchange, I will keep the bodies of your men, and whatever is on their, and your, persons." said Nomad, undressing and removing the squad leader's armor, equipment, and items.

The squad leader looked at Nomad wide eyed. "Wait! What if I meet a bear on the way?"

"Not my fate to decide. But with the smell of fresh blood in the air, wolves might be coming here soon anyway. Better move." Nomad said, giving the squad leader several bandages and picking him up. "Better not dawdle over your men's bodies either. I'm a better aim than what you take me for." Nomad said, taking careful watch of the naked squad leader.

The nude leader trekked quickly over his dead comrades and turned around to look at Nomad again before turning away to leave the forest forever.

Nomad sighed and pilfered through each of the three corpses for their belongings. He then absconded the area with the loot he looted, taking refuge in the ruined shack that was damaged by the bean can bomb. The wolves would come, and he needed to build another door to prevent them from getting in. When midday comes, that would be the time to move.

At least one of the Ormegilidan squad members carried a bar of chocolate with them. But he needed to craft the door frame and door first.

And right at the moment he was done with the door frame and door, the howling of wolves sounded off, being a lot closer that what Nomad was comfortable with. He managed to put the doorway and door made from twigs and wood. He sighed in relief when there was no scratching on his door. Merely, the sound of flesh ripping apart as the scavengers found easy meals.

Nomad would not be able to sleep easy for the rest of the morning. But at least he had the sweet taste of a chocolate bar to give him a brief moment of relief in the constant struggle of life on this damnable island. Oh how he would love to break free from the day-to-day murdering and fighting. The only time that he had been nice to anyone was nearly... Nomad can't remember. Three months ago? And then the man he helped said that if... something. Nomad can't really remember. The things he remembered outside of the Great Eastern Woods was slowly becoming a blur the more he stayed here.

As he heard the gnashing of teeth scrape onto the bone outside of his tiny shack, Nomad decided that staying in this shack would be for the best at the moment. No sense to risk going outside when carnivorous pack animals would easily pounce at another easy meal. He would wait until they left. That will have to be the time he would move to another part of the forest and make a new shack there. Whoever is the chieftain of the Ormegilidan clan, he will have hell to pay if he decided to attack Nomad. He will make sure of that.

* * *

 **A/N: Bonus points to whoever guesses the crossover. =w=**


	5. Knob Turn

**Chapter 5: Knob Turn**

* * *

Garthis was peacefully napping, back on his slab of stone.

*Thock*

Well... He tried to get some sleep.

*Thock*

Garthis rose up after his short slumber and sluggishly checked his person. His wounds were fully healed, which had meant that he had slept enough to heal completely. Even though he wanted to sleep in a little bit more, he didn't want to be unavailable when another attack happens.

*Thock*

Garthis remembered that after they had dealt with the last of the albino Goliath's minions, Kraivod had went ahead to relocate the bundle of logs and put them at the front of the cave entrance.

*Thock*

Once that was done, Kraivod had asked Garthis to let Wylow out on another hunt with Balhu and Ganny. A diversion that enabled Garthis and Kraivod to safely transfer the livestock into the cave. With the new heavy log door installed, the striders and glaciapods will not be leaving the Bird Mountain Cave anytime soon.

*Thock*

But then they had to explain to Balhu and Ganny about the current situation when they were back. Like the human, the glaciapods and the striders were off limits until the situation demands otherwise.

*Thock*

Wylow had managed to hunt down a pack of trapjaws that was tracking the scent of death, emanating from the several eaten corpses of Goliath minions. There were only five of them in the trapjaw pack, and thin. But food was food, and to deny oneself the spoils is to go on hungry. At least everyone had one more meal out of today. At least one that wasn't glaciapod gel for once.

*Thock*

After that, from what Garthis tried to remember... Kraivod built that door, Wylow agreed to keep watch of the livestock, and Balhu and Ganny. Balhu and Ganny complained, but became complacent with the trapjaw meat that filled their bellies somewhat. Kraivod decided to do some more testing with the human, and that's when Garthis decided to rest and heal his injuries.

*Thock*

~What is that sound?~ Garthis growled, lumbering out of his lair and entering the main chamber. He looked around to find that the whole place became a mess. Soil and stone was piled up in one corner of the room. Glaciapods would be chased around by the striders, prompting them to produce the messy gel to be eaten by them. The glaciapods looked so thin already. If they don't get fed soon, then the pack might have to cull the striders just to maintain their only reliable food source. What would Kraivod gain from analyzing the striders anyway?

*Thock*

There was that sound again. It came from the pile of stone and earth that was haphazardly piled up on the side of the main chamber. Garthis stomped over to the pile and inspected it, only to notice that the pile was slowly getting higher by a trickle of dirt and rock that rolled and slid from a new tunnel he had not seen before. It was angled sharply upward

*Thock*

At least Garthis knew that the origin of the 'thock' noise was coming from the new tunnel. ~Hey! What are you doing?~ He mentally called, and growled into the new tunnel for good measure.

~Oh! Hi Garthis!~ Balhu's mental patterns was sensed. ~I was told by Kraivod that we need more air, so he mentioned that making a new tunnel would be good for everyone here. He gave me instructions on how to dig one!~

Garthis growled low. ~And he didn't tell me about it?~

~Well... You were sleeping and healing, and he wanted to tell you when you were awake.~

*Thock*

Garthis rolled his eyes. He might as well pay Kraivod a visit and chew him out over this new development. He knows more than anybody that if there was anything that was going to happen, Garthis would need to be the first to weigh his opinion on the matter. And wouldn't you know it, Kraivod was already in the main chamber, playing with his pet. Garthis growled as he approached the Kraken, not caring if he was in the middle of research of not. ~I'm giving you twenty seconds to explain why you told Balhu to dig a new hole in our home.~

Kraivod slowly turned to stare at Garthis. ~... Too much stale air has been building up in this cave. I need fresh air for my research.~

~Research? Right now? Into what?~ Garthis growled.

~The human collapsed when I came to check up on him. I can only assume that it was caused by us moving the glaciapods and striders down here. That and I think the new door I made must be blocking the air current. So, for good measure, I had Balhu make another tunnel that can draw in fresher air from the outside.~

Garthis growled again. ~But what if there was another attack? The alpha could come back and send a platoon of minions to the entrance, while he sneaked around, go in the new tunnel, and kill all of our striders while we're distracted!~

~Relax, Garthis. So long as the striders and glaciapods do not use that particular tunnel, the alpha will not find it. But the humans are remarkable climbers, so I'll need to keep my attention on the one we have.~ Kraivod said, gesturing to the human that was lying down on the ground.

Garthis sniffed the body. ~Is it not dead?~

~It's simply passed out from the stale air.~

~Hmm. What a weak human.~ Garthis said, huffing as though disliking the stench in his nose.

~We still need it.~ Kraivod said as he picked up the unconscious human gingerly.

Garthis growled again. ~For your research, I get it. ... Actually, I don't get it. I'm not the kind of monster here that gets excited about research as you do. In fact, it's the only thing that you ever seem to want to talk about! I'm getting tired of it!~

~Garthis, calm down. There's no need to rile yourself unnecessarily.~ Kraivod said, backing away a little and clutching the human life in his claws.

~Also, you have been going off on your little expeditions for whole days, sometimes several days just for your research recently!~ Garthis stepped forward, hissing at Kraivod. ~And unbeknown to me, you decide to tell Balhu to make a tunnel without telling me first?~

Kraivod had backed into a wall, but he remained calm. ~Garthis. I know better than anyone that waking you while you were sleeping is a bad idea. I was a fool to not tell you, but I would be an even bigger fool to simply wake you up and get you riled over every single detail.~

Garthis growled, but stopped himself when he backed Kraivod into the wall. Garthis looked down for a second before shaking his head. ~Don't try to change the subject! I know that I get a little more aggressive than usual if I don't get enough sleep. But the tunneling, your research, and now the livestock living with us in our own cave with the alpha Goliath outside somewhere, it's bound to make me become a little stir crazy! And it all makes me feel as though all of this is your fault.~

~MY fault?~ Kraivod said, dropping the human and taking on a combative stance. ~I think that's a bit presumptuous! We only formed this pack because I simply wanted to understand how the dark orb granted us our sentience and our telepathic abilities! I hoped that using the human tools could grant us further research about this orb in our possession, but I'll have you know that research takes time and patience! And on top of that, the striders coming into the pens and attracting the alpha and his minions was not my doing.~

~Your research with the orb meant nothing to us the whole time. It was all just a waste of time.~ Garthis turned away and walked to the direction of the new cave tunnel.

~Where do you think you're going?~

~I'm going to tell Balhu to stop that racket.~

Kraivod growled, bursting forward and grabbing at Garthis' shoulder spikes. ~But I need the human! It needs the air!~

Garthis turned around quick and backhanded Kraivod in his tentacled face. ~Don't stop me!~

Kraivod turned and glared at Garthis, growling more so that usual. He swinged his tentacled wing onto Garthis' face and zapped him.

Garthis shrugged off the blow but faced Kraivod fully, letting more primal instincts fill his mind. He roared loudly at Kraivod with teeth bared, and his claws ready to rip and tear flesh. Kraivod roared back, baring his tentacled teeth and waving his wings threateningly at Garthis, ready to trade more blows. They backed off from one another and circled each other, the both of them analyzing their weaknesses and strengths. Things would get incredibly ugly if nobody intervened and stopped the bloodshed that would soon happen.

But suddenly two Wraiths that looked identical to Wylow darted between Garthis and Kraivod and blocked them, preventing them from getting into an ugly situation. ~Stop it you two!~ The Wylow's hissed.

Kraivod sighed in relief, since he now has Wylow to help with trying to settle down Garthis. Garthis, on the other hand, became more enraged as he started roaring at Wylow. ~GET OUT OF MY WAY, I WANT TO SMASH HIM!~

~You're not going to do any smashing right now, Garthis.~ Wylow said, leaning towards him and resting her claws on his chin. ~You're acting unreasonably right now. Do you really think that you're supposed to be the great big leader of our pack?~

Garthis growled furiously, but stopped himself from biting her hands. ~Are you saying that I'm not?~

~Yes!~ Wylow said, stroking the back of his head. ~You're not just the pack leader, you're the pack's protector! You and Kraivod act as co-leaders to everyone, and they look up to you two for guidance. Now, do you think you can settle down and apologize to Kraivod? ... You know... For your outburst earlier?~

Garthis stopped growling, but let himself get petted. He eventually shook his head to free himself from Wylow's claws and stepped back. ~Whatever.~ Garthis turned around and started going back towards his lair.

One of the Wylow's that was protecting Kraivod shimmered and dispersed into particles of light. The other Wylow that was real turned to face Kraivod. ~Kraivod, what did you do to piss him off?~

Kraivod rubbed at his aching tentacled jowls. ~He was just being difficult for the sake of being difficult. That and I think we woke him up. I wouldn't blame him.~

~Why is that?~ Wylow said, floating to Kraivod to inspect him.

~I would guess that it had something to do with his pride. The albino Goliath he met yesterday fled from the battle, and Garthis is in the right when he said that everyone should be on alert. He can be an ass sometimes, but he means well.~

~Still, I would like it better if he thought things through more critically. He can be so stubborn sometimes.~

Kraivod sighed and looked up to the ceiling. ~Even though we have an agreement where I give him the kills I hunted and he would help assist me in my research, prey is becoming more and more scarce daily. I would so appreciate it if he helped me out of volition rather than rely on trading his services with food.~ Kraivod shook his head and growled to no one in particular. ~But he's still stubborn and thinks that things could be solved by smashing them. He's just that kind of hot-head that doesn't think things through.~

~OH, I DON'T, HUH?~

Wylow and Kraivod flinched when Garthis came towards them again. They can tell that Garthis was fuming mad now. They didn't realize that he was eavesdropping on their conversation. The both of them stepped back and snarled in a defensive posture. Wylow tried to disarm Garthis' sudden temper spike. ~Garthis, he didn't mean it!~

~I HEARD HIS THOUGHTS. AND YOURS.~ Garthis said, pushing Wylow away and confronting Kraivod again. ~TO THINK THAT I AGREED TO FORM THIS PACK WITH YOU JUST FOR YOU TO TRY AND LEARN FROM THIS ORB!~

Kraivod snarled. ~Calm down!~

~AND WHERE ARE WE NOW WITH YOUR RESEARCH? NOWHERE!~ Garthis growled and roared at Kraivod, which was now getting the attention from multiple monsters that lived in the cave system. Ganny would gingerly peek out from her lair, not wanting to get into another fight. Balhu emerged from the new tunnel he finished, but he took refuge in it once he sensed mental shouting. ~YOU HAVE DONE NOTHING BUT COLLECT AND LOOKED AT HUMAN TOYS AND BAUBLES, BROUGHT HUMAN FILTH INTO OUR HOME, AND SUGGESTED THAT WE HAVE THE GLACIAPODS AND THE STRIDERS LIVE HERE WITH US, AND NOT IN ANY WAY IN A CONTAINED BOX LIKE YOUR HUMAN PET! I CAN'T EVEN TAKE A STEP WITHOUT LANDING ON GLACIAPOD LEAVINGS, OR STRIDER LEAVINGS! AND TO TOP IT OFF, I HAVE ONLY RECENTLY DISCOVERED THAT YOU TWO WERE TALKING BEHIND MY BACK! WHAT IS THIS SUDDEN DISTRUST? AND WHERE IS IT COMING FROM?~ Garthis picked up a nearby glaciapod and shakes it in front of Kraivod's face to demonstrate his point. The little creature shrieked and produced a lot of gel as it was shaken around.

Kraivod roared back at Garthis. ~TOMORROW, GARTHIS! WAIT UNTIL TOMORROW AND WE CAN LEAVE TO SEARCH FOR A NEW PLACE TO CALL HOME!~

Garthis huffed slowly and loudly, but was calming down. He realized now that getting angry wouldn't do the pack any good. ~... Fine. Tomorrow, we'll leave.~ Garthis was about to turn around when his gaze lingered onto the human that was passed out. ~... You said something about wanting me to help you out of my volition, right?~

Kraivod relaxed and lowered his wings, though he sensed a sudden ill intent from Garthis. ~Uh... Yes. I mean... If you feel like it.~

Garthis walked towards Kraivod and pushed him forcefully to the side, then picking up the human. ~Then allow me.~

Kraivod slipped and fell, but sat up to look at Garthis in surprise. ~What... Are you doing?~

Garthis turned and walked to the center of the room with human in tow, and then stopped when he was at the dark orb. ~You said that you wanted to have the human gain the power of telepathy so you can listen to its thoughts, right? Well, I'm going to make it touch the orb now.~

Kraivod got up quickly. ~What? Now? But... I mean... I wanted to prepare first! Like make a type of harness for it! Or plan a contingency if it develops an ability we can't control! What if it becomes dangerous?~ He said. Kraivod felt the sudden urge to stop Garthis. But then again... Kraivod did plan to make the human make physical contact with the dark orb anyway.

Garthis raised the human up and slammed it onto the surface of the orb, its whispering remaining constant. ~I guess we'll just have to find out.~

* * *

Jack woke up to the whispering of something close by. Seconds later, he also felt the sudden pain of what felt like him jumping off of a two story tall building and landing flat on the ground. Despite his body being in so much pain, he was able to take in cool air. Earlier, he had a very hard time breathing for some reason he couldn't guess. He coughed and took deep breaths until he became conscious enough to question why he felt like he was slammed against a wall.

When he woke up, he quickly found himself pinned by a giant claw that pressed him onto some kind of surface. After turning to see what was pinning him down... Oh no.

It was the angry one.

It was the angry one that can breathe fire.

It was the angry one that can breathe fire that has him pinned.

The one whose breed that the humans have classified as a Goliath.

Out of all the monsters, the Goliath was the one he feared the most. The Kraken didn't seem to actively want to hurt him, though only doing so if it involves punishment. The Wraith he didn't like at all since he was certain that she was toying with his life, almost as though it sensed his fear and delighted in tormenting him. The huge rock monster, the Behemoth, would just stare at the human and clicked its jowls. Perhaps it was its way of licking its lips? And the Gorgon... Actually, Jack is not going to mention the Gorgon. THAT monster in particular was THAT terrifying.

But nothing could compare to the potential wrath that could be incurred by pissing off a goddamn motherfucking Goliath. Their only mood is angry, and Jack didn't want to find out if a Goliath could get any angrier than the one holding him onto this... Black globe?

Actually, Jack didn't know what this globe was. He wasn't a geologist, but he was _pretty_ sure that giant floating perfectly spherical black balls don't occur naturally on Shear. What was odd that he started to hear whispers from it.

... He waited for what felt like a minute. Just what are these monsters trying to do? All Jack could do was lay upon the sphere that the Goliath was pressing him against, and... listen to the whispering of the thing, he guessed? The whispering made no sense to him. He heard only single words with no sentence structure all mashed together in a cacophony of several voices in what he guessed was broken English. Some said 'ask', some said 'power', some said 'give', some even said 'hello' in soft and barely audible voices. But even then, he decided to ask aloud to the whispers, not caring if the whispering could answer him. "... Hello?"

~Oh good. Something happened. Noise happened. Want to make a note of this?~

Jack's heart leaped when he heard that voice. It sounded so close! "WHAH? Hello? Who is there!?" Jack said, looking around frantically.

~Hmm... It seems... Delirious. Maybe you shouldn't have slammed it on the dark orb like that?~

~Bite me.~

~Wait guys. I think the little guy's barking is making sense to me.~

Jack looked around the chamber to try and find the source of those voices. They sounded so close! "I don't know who you are, but you should know that there are monsters in this cave! If you guys are some kind of military force that came back to retake this planet, please don't shoot me! My name is Jack Wynono Piacentino! I'm a male, Caucasian, six foot two, and I have an injured left leg! Send help!"

~... I think I'm starting to regret my decision to put the human on the orb.~

"What?" Jack turned to face that voice that seemed to mention him. ... It came from the Goliath?

~Well... At least we can understand him. ... In a way.~ That voice came from the Kraken. Jack's eyes was becoming more wide eyed.

~Wait... How do you know he's a he? ... And why am I thinking that he _is_ a he just now?~ This voice came from the Wraith.

~Could be some kind of perceptual filter.~

~Perceptual filter?~

~We are technically reading his mind right now, but it seems as though his race is hardwired into using its verbal barking for communication. And as he talks, his mind puts together his language while we read off of that as he talks. Think of it as seeing into the perception of another mind. How he makes sense of certain words that he puts together would make sense to us when we read his mind. This can go the same way in his perspective when he reads our minds in his language.~

"... What the fuck is going on? H-how can you monsters talk?" Jack shouted.

~Shut up, human.~ The Goliath said, firmly clenching his claws on him and cutting into his back.

~I don't like how he called us monsters. Can I hurt him?~ The Wraith said.

~No. But once I find out how to make it use its toys and teach me how to use them, he's all yours.~ The Kraken said.

~What about me?~ Another new voice said. A Behemoth peered out from a new tunnel that was built within the cave.

~Don't forget Ganny.~ A Gorgon came into view, chattering excitedly.

~Everyone shut up before I do you all a favor and kill him, here and now.~ The Goliath said.

"What the hell? Am I... Am I becoming... Insane?" Jack said, squirming under the Goliath's grip.

He was pushed down forcefully on the surface of the orb. ~That's goes for you too, human!~ The Goliath growled threateningly at Jack. ~Unless you don't mind having your meat getting stripped from your bones.~

"Oh god..." Jack shivered from the words that... was somehow wordlessly formed from the Goliath as it sneered at him and bared those sharp teeth. That was when Jack had finally snapped. " _ **I WANT TO GET OUT OF HERE!**_ "

~DIDN'T YOU HEAR WHAT I- uh?~

* * *

Garthis' right hand had disappeared into the dark orb.

~... What?~

Kraivod tilted his head at the new development. ~... What just happened?~

~Where did your hand go?~ Balhu asked, coming towards the group of monsters.

Air was slowly being pulled into the orb as Garthis tried to retrieve his hand back. ~Whatever it's doing, it has the human .~

~You have a hold on him?~ Kraivod asked, inspecting Garthis' arm.

~Yeah.~ Garthis placed his other claw onto the orb to push him out of it. It was a bad decision, as his other hand was also drawn in. ~... Can someone pull me out?~

Kraivod came to help, along with Balhu's assistance. They grasped Garthis' waist and attempted to pull him out of the dark orb. As they did so, more air was rushing into the orb at an increased rate. ~Not sure what this wind means! Maybe we should stop?~ Balhu asked.

~And let me drop the human? He... I mean IT, did something and I plan to find out what and how! Keep pulling!~ Garthis growled, struggling to pull the human out of the dark orb.

Kraivod shook his head as he pulled Garthis with Balhu. ~What did he even do?~

~That's what I want to find out. NOW PULL!~

Despite Kraivod's and Balhu's effort in trying to pry Garthis from the orb, their attempt went into vain as the air in the cave was continually being pulled into the dark orb. In fact, it was starting to pull Garthis even further into the orb. More than a minute passes before Kraivod and Balhu were getting tired. Despite the strength of two monsters, even they were unable to dislodge Garthis.

After one last pull, Balhu exhaled in exhaustion. ~Wow, Garthis, you're stuck in it good!~

Garthis was fuming mad again. ~OBVIOUSLY!~ Garthis growled.

~This is getting us nowhere.~ Kraivod finally said, also exhaling. ~At this rate, the wind alone might pull you, and perhaps all of us, into it!~

~... I HOPE YOU'RE NOT THINKING WHAT I THINK YOU'RE THINKING!~ Garthis said, snarling. If his claws was free, he would take a swipe at Kraivod.

~I am. Either let go of the human, or we will have to amputate.~ Kraivod said, turning to Wylow.

Wylow was already struggling against the air current, already using her clawed arms to hold and anchor herself away from the windier part of the cave. ~You really want me to come close to that thing and cut off his arms?~ Wylow said.

~If we have to. That is if Garthis is still going to hang onto the human.~ Kraivod said, turning to Garthis.

~YOU REALLY THINK IT'S GOING TO LET ME GO THE MOMENT I RELEASE THE HUMAN?~ Garthis growled.

~It's a possibility.~

~I DON'T WANT TO LOSE TO THIS ORB! IT'S EITHER TAKING MY ARMS OR I'M GOING TO TAKE THE HUMAN!~

~Then you leave us with no choice. I'm sorry, Garthis. Wylow?~ Kraivod said, turning to Wylow.

Wylow trilled, despite the loud whooshing of wind that was now violently pulled into the dark orb. ~Balhu, I need you to carry me over to Garthis.~

~Uh... Sure. But do you think we should deal with that first?~ Balhu said, pointing to the entrance of their cave.

And sure enough, a claw was bursting from the heavy wooden door, scratching wildly around the new hole and seeking to bring the heavy door down. With the noise of the whooshing wind, they didn't notice the stomping of an infiltration force coming into their home.

Garthis turned to look and saw what Balhu had meant. ~NO! NOT NOW!~

Kraivod narrowed his eyes and acted, getting himself between the giant wooden door and Garthis with his current problem with the orb. ~Everyone!~ Kraivod called out. ~Protect the livestock! Protect the dark orb! Protect our home!~

Wylow and Balhu stood at attention behind Kraivod, while Ganny came out from her lair, joining the defending monsters. Garthis would have loved to join them, but alas, was stuck in the dark orb.

As the giant wooden door broke apart with a savage flurry of claws, a familiar face, along with fifteen more faces, emerged from the destroyed door. It was the albino alpha Goliath, and he brought more minions with him this time. The alpha strode forward and roared, which prompted his minions to charge forward and attack the sentient monsters.

However, through the use of combat practice as a pack, the sentient monster pack of Bird Mountain have trained themselves to fight as a group. Ganny would use her snaring web to slow down the incoming attackers whilst in the relative safety of the cavern ceiling, while Wylow, Balhu, and Kraivod would use their most powerful area-of-effect attacks and keep the minions fighting them only. Four stage three monsters mentally linked versus fifteen minion Goliaths would be a roughly even fight. But the alpha Goliath wasn't going to barge into the fray. Instead, the alpha seemed to have the intent of attacking only one target at the moment. And just by a cursory look to judge all of the monsters he was fighting, only one of them seemed to be vulnerable.

Garthis' eyes grew wide as he saw the alpha Goliath careening through the air, preparing a fist to strike as the intruder lands in a leaping smash attack. Sadly, that one attack was all it took to make Garthis and the alpha to disappear entirely. Kraivod, Wylow, Balhu and Ganny was unable to protect Garthis in time. The battle happened so fast, and there were so many more Goliath minions this time around. At least the rest of the pack under Bird Mountain can deal with the minions without the alpha hindering them, or Garthis barking orders on how to proceed.

But due to the attack. the sentient monsters was now lacking a member of their pack and a few of the striders.

* * *

Garthis' vision was of renewed darkness as he woke up to searing pain that wracked his body, groaning painfully as he came out of his unconsciousness. What had made him unconscious? He couldn't really know for certain. The wounds on his body was fresh, so it couldn't have been long. But still, everything hurt, his eyes hurt, and his pride hurt. What the hell happened?

... Oh yeah. The last things he could recollect was going through the dark orb fully as the alpha smashed into him. The alpha also got caught in the dark orb as well. They tumbled around within the thing as a result, scratching and biting at one another as the human Garthis tried to recover was flailing next to them and frantically yelling. But Garthis also remembered that he traveled through the dark orb even further than that somehow. Garthis couldn't describe the feeling when he was inside the orb. It was like... Being pushed through a pipe that got smaller and smaller, and that the sides of the pipe was very hot and abrasive. It felt as though it must have gotten so hot inside that he lost consciousness the moment he left that place.

But he was now awake in what seemed like a small cave. Too small to be the cave of Bird Mountain. At least the dark orb was still here. ... Oh... And that human too.

Garthis' 'armor' was slowly regenerating, enabling him to recover to some degree. He and the other sentient monsters call it 'armor', but they really had no idea what else to call it. He knows that Kraivoid tried to find out why they had the ability to create this protective invisible field around themselves, but even he has no answers. But he does know that it was a uniquely natural biological trait that is exclusive to monsters like the pack and their wild kin. Humans can also use this same protection, but only to a degree, such as using technology to create their energy barriers.

Speaking of humans, Garthis found a human that was in critical condition.

... Impaled on one of his shoulder spikes on his right shoulder that was struck through the human's shoulder.

... Well THIS is awkward.

~Hey. Human. Still alive?~ Garthis communicated to the creature. If he was dead, at least it would mean Garthis would have a means to restore a little of his armor.

"Ghghhh..." The human answers his question.

But another question emerges. Whatever the hell happened to the alpha Goliath? Garthis looked down and saw tracks that was not of his own leading away from his current position. The pacing of the footprints were uneven and oddly placed, which could mean that the alpha was weakened during the fight and staggered off. It was also then that he noticed the light of daytime. It could only mean that the alpha went in that direction, evidenced by the tracks leading to the cave entrance.

Garthis was in no mood to follow the alpha's tracks, however. He would rather wait until his armor was fully restored before he can fight him again. Or better yet, find a way back to his pack.

"Ghhouhggh..."

Oh right. Him. What to do?

Garthis reached up with his right claw and carefully grasped the human. He was not going to become a target for the alpha with the scent of human blood clinging to him. ~You might want to brace yourself.~

" _GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!_ "

~I SAID TO BRACE YOURSELF! ... Ow. I think you managed to make me deaf in one of my ears.~

Garthis placed the human down on the ground unceremoniously. After that, Garthis inspected the human's wound. From what he could tell, the wound wasn't too serious. Well... He wasn't sure what a serious wound could be to a human. The wound was gaping large enough that Garthis could see right through the opening to the other side, past the exit wound. That's not fatal, right? "HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!"

~Quiet down, primate.~ Garthis growled.

"GYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

~That's not quieting down.~

"MMMMMMMMMMMMMMmmmmmmmmmmmuuuuuuuurrrrrrrrrrggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhh!"

~Quiet or I will kill you.~

"Huuuuuuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhh."

~A little better.~

"Haaaaaaaah... I think I'm bleeding out."

~That is not important to me.~

"It is to me! ... Oh what am I kidding? I'm talking to a fucking monster, for fuck's sake." Jack haggardly tried to crawl away, but he was already suffering from too much pain to do much else.

Garthis rolled his eyes.

~Garthis?~

Garthis immediately turned to the unexpected telepathic voice that called to him. It sounded like Kraivod was calling to him from close by. ~Kraivod?~

~Garthis?~

Garthis looked around the inside of the tiny cave that he could barely fit inside of. Despite there being some errant wooden boxes here and there, and a sleeping bag that was out of place, there was also a dark orb that had greeted his presence. Garthis listened intently for Kraivod's telepathic signal. ~Kraivod, I can hear you. Where are you?~

~I'm right beside the dark orb, Garthis.~

~I don't see you next to it.~ Garthis said, going to and circling the dark orb, inspecting around it, despite being incredibly cramped within the tiny cave.

~What about you? Are you near the orb?~

~Yes. But... I'm in a bad way.~

~How do you mean?~

~I woke up like I had been fighting in a pit filled with crowbill sloths. I'm alive and regaining armor, however.~

~Garthis. From my perspective, it sounds as though you are inside the orb. Did you get pulled in?~

~... I think I may have. But I think I somehow gotten outside of it with the alpha Goliath and the human too.~

~What is their condition? Can you describe where you are?~

Garthis turned to look at Jack. ~The human looks to be barely alive, but at least he's... I mean it's no longer impaled on my shoulder spike. The alpha Goliath decided to hightail it out of here. But as for where I'm at... I can say that I am in a cave that I don't recognize. It's definitely NOT the Bird Mountain cave. It's too small to be our home.~

~... Interesting.~

~Interesting?~ Garthis growled.

~Yes. Interesting.~

~What is interesting about it?~

~Can't say what it means at the current moment. I need to work on my theories to see what the possible explanations are. Your current... situation is somewhat of a mystery to me.~

Garthis grunted. ~Tell me something I don't know.~

~In any case, you need to heal the human, heal yourself, and then wait there until I can find out how to get you back to us.~

Garthis paused.

~... Garthis. I need him.~

Garthis growled again. ~... How am I supposed to heal the human and myself? It's not like the human can sleep off his... I mean IT'S injuries. And on top of that, I don't want to be in a vulnerable position when I am asleep.~

~Then perhaps I should tell you of another way you CAN heal.~

~There is? What is it?~ Garthis asked.

~I'll only tell you if you heal the human first.~

~I'll ask again. HOW?~

There was a long pause on the other side of the orb before something dropped out of it. ~I think the humans uses this to cover their wounds to heal themselves. Did it drop to your location?~

Garthis leaned down to inspect the curious item. ~Yeah, it did. What is it?~

~Medical supplies. Give it to the human and supervise him.~

~Why me?~ Garthis whined.

~Because you're the only one there that can protect him. I still need the human for further testing.~

Garthis growled again. ~You owe me a three course meal after this.~ He said, picking up the medpack and approaching Jack.

Jack winced as the vibrations of the Goliath's stomping made his gaping shoulder wound hurt and tingle painfully. It felt as though the wound he sustained must have shifted his bones around. That was not good. Not only did he have a gimp leg, but he feared the thought of having a gimp arm too.

A green package dropped to Jack's side.

Despite being in agonizing pain, he became incredibly dumbfounded when he saw the medkit dropped next to him. Dropped by the Goliath by all things. "... Whuh?"

~Can you use this on yourself?~ Garthis asked Jack.

Jack tilted his head up and slightly to the side, his face contorted into confusion.

Garthis snarled. ~Don't give me that look. Can. You. Use. This!~ Garthis said, pointing to the medkit. ~On. Yourself!~ He said, now pointing at Jack.

Jack stared at Garthis for several seconds. Jack managed an awkward answer after the awkward pause. "... Yeah?"

~Then I don't need to hold your tiny sausage hands and help you. Don't leave this cave or I WILL hunt you down.~ Garthis said, then promptly left Jack to his own devices. After leaving the human, Garthis approached the orb again and telepathically spoke into and through it. ~Alright. I gave him... Gah, IT, the thing. What do I need to do?~

~A while ago, I have discovered that us monsters have a latent ability that only develops in times when we receive many extensive injuries. Since there are no albino tyrants for you to consume, or that the immediate area you are in hasn't been scouted yet, that only leaves two other methods.~

~... Which are?~

~One is to evolve.~

Garthis chuckled at Kraivod's answer. ~Maybe you forgot, but I'm already at my final form.~

~I wasn't done talking.~ Kraivod said in an annoyed tone. ~The second method is to devolve.~

~... Devolve? Is that like... Regressing to a smaller form? We can do that? ... How come I didn't know about this?~ Garthis said, scratching at his chin and mandibles.

~I didn't tell you this because I didn't think it would be important. From when I analyzed a wounded monster during my travels, they would willfully regress in their evolution and devolve into their smaller stages of growth. It was, perhaps, a quick means to gain control of their territory from an imminent attack. But when evolving or devolving, the primary benefit of both is to quickly heal a sum of their injuries. Despite that advantage, there is also disadvantages.~

~Which are?~

~You become smaller and your attacks grow weaker.~

~Hmm...~ Garthis plopped himself onto the ground and thought about the situation.

~If the alpha Goliath is somewhere near your position, you may need the upper hand by devolving, and then very quickly gain energy to evolve to your ultimate transformation.~

Garthis nodded. ~So that would mean I have to decide on which form I need to regress into. ... If I decided to go into my second stage, or penultimate form as you call it, evolving back into my third stage would enable me to recover a lot of my health. But if my injuries that I am feeling are as bad as I think, I might need to regress back to my first stage.~

~Your antepenultimate form? You're in that kind of pain?~

Garthis shook his head and grunted. ~I can manage. I'm actually a lot tougher than you think.~

~Even so, you need to heal quickly. Regress your form, scout and hunt in this new place you're in, evolve when you are in a safe area, and most importantly, protect the human.~

Garthis growled at the thought of protecting something he would normally eat. ~Do I have to?~

~Until I can figure out a safe and stable way to get to your position, or find a means to transfer the human back to us safely, I'm afraid so.~

Garthis grunted in disdain and scratched at the cave's wall, making deep marks into the earth. After taking out some of his aggression on the naturally formed geological formation, Garthis sighed and turned to the dark orb once more. ~Tell me what I have to do to devolve then.~

~I... uh... don't really know how it happens.~

~What?~

~Yeah. Um... I probably should have told you that.~

~Well it's your fault for leading me to think that you knew!~ Garthis growled.

~Still, it's the best possible option for you right now. Just.. I don't know... try to summon up the feeling of evolving again but... going backwards or something?~

~... That is the worst advice I have ever received from you, ever.~

~Shut up. It's the best I have for you at short notice. Try and get comfy.~

~Yeah yeah. Huhhhhhhhhh... I hope that things don't become worse.~ Garthis said, going to a corner to devolve. Somehow.

Garthis was feeling pretty tired over the course of today. Getting stuck in the orb, getting attacked by the alpha Goliath and his minions, sent through the orb and into this... other cave, and then having to become weaker just so he could fully heal in the quickest amount of time. And that's only assuming that there is prey to hunt. Wherever Garthis is, he was sure that this turn of events would be the biggest for his pack. Will he ever see them again? He wouldn't know the answer to that, but he secretly hoped that he did. He then promised to himself that he would give Kraivod a hard time when he meets him again.

But Garthis would also have to be aware of the alpha Goliath that was pulled with him. He had left a while ago, and the tracks that Garthis could see leading out of the cave was his only clue as to where the alpha had gone. After rethinking his situation, Garthis would definitely give Kraivod a hard time. Even if the Kraken loves to float away and do his research, he is seldom prone to forgetfulness. And this time, Kraivod forgot the number one rule about Goliaths.

Never anger them.

... Well. It's time to devolve.

Garthis crouched over in a corner and tried to reach deep within himself the ability to regress his evolution. This was a lot harder than his main means of evolving, in Garthis' opinion. When transforming to a bigger stage, you just do it when you hunted enough food to eat and gathered up enough energy to do it. Even though Garthis never needed any more energy after achieving his third stage evolution, he only ever ate when he was hungry afterwards.

Then.

A sudden tug from within himself.

After a minute or so, trying to find the biological mechanism to trigger his de-evolution, he finally found it! ... At least Garthis thought he did. ... Oh well. He was going to give this a whirl, whether or not such a backward transformation would make him weaker. At least it's better than being vulnerable sleeping, or talking even more with the human.

* * *

 **A/N: I honestly forgot that I was writing this. :V**

 **I think I'll give this fanfic crossover a slight break and go back to my other fanfic when I have the time.**


End file.
